PSYC 403 Exam 1 - Anterograde Amnesia, Retrograde Amnesia, Memory Distortions, False Memories, Hypnosis, and False Memories

UIUC PSYC 403 (from study guide, not everything is in this set, just the ones I need to focus on)

Temporal gradient

memories that change or degrade depending on the passage of time

Memory are more vulnerable to recent memories

shows that remote memories are increasingly more resistant bc older memories have been consolidated

Recover patterns of retrograde amnesia (1) remembers

who they are, where they are, and what time/date it is

Recover patterns of retrograde amnesia (2) retrograde

memory remotely (happened a long time ago) recovers first

Recover patterns of retrograde amnesia (3) ability

to form new memories gradually returns

Recover patterns of retrograde amnesia (4) usually

limited memory just before and just after the incident (depending on the severity)

Recover patterns of retrograde amnesia (5) the

exact time leading up and immediately following a physical trauma are almost permanently lost

Organic causes of retrograde amnesia

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), stroke, ECT, Korsakoff’s syndrome

Other organic causes of retrograde amnesia

dementia, hypoxia/ischemia, seizure disorder, encephalitis, tumor, medications/alcohol/drugs

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

a disruption in normal brain function caused by a violent blow, jolt, or bump to the head

The brain hits inside of the skull at the point of the impact (coup) (front of the head), and then

bounces back to hit the back side (contrecoup), bruising tissue on both ends

Stroke

when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or a blood vessel in the brain bursts, causing brain cells to die

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

a medical treatment that passes a controlled electrical current through the brain to trigger a brief, monitored seizure

ECT induces

temporally limited retrograde amnesia

Korsakoff’s syndrome

a chronic memory disorder caused by a severe deficiency of vitamin B (thiamine)

Korsakoff’s syndrome induces

temporally extensive retrograde amnesia

Symptoms of temporally extensive retrograde amnesia

altered mental status, agitation, hallucinations, confabulations

Temporally limited amnesia

selective deficit for a window of time (2 weeks to 1 month)

Temporally extensive amnesia

complete inability to recall memories (a spectrum, not a hard category boundary