MEMORY AND AMNESIA

Henry Molaison (HM)

A patient who lost his memory after surgery to remove his hippocampus to treat epilepsy.

Hippocampus

A seahorse-shaped brain structure essential for forming memories.

Amnesia

The inability to form or recall memories.

Anterograde amnesia

An inability to learn new information after an event.

Retrograde amnesia

An inability to recall previously available information.

Working memory

A system for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks.

Procedural memory

A type of long-term memory involved in the learning of skills.

Declarative memory

A type of long-term memory that involves conscious recall of facts and events.

Korsakoff's Syndrome

A chronic neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency, leading to severe anterograde amnesia.

Consolidation

The process of stabilizing a memory trace after its initial acquisition.

Engram

The physical change in the brain associated with a memory.

Alzheimer’s disease

A progressive disease that causes loss of neurons and memory impairment.

Memory retrieval

The process of recalling information stored in the memory.

Short-term memory

A type of memory that holds a small amount of information for a brief period.

Long-term memory

A type of memory that can store information for long periods, often years.

Central Executive

The component of working memory that directs attention and processing of information.

Phonological loop

A storage component of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information.

Visuospatial sketchpad

The component of working memory responsible for holding visual and spatial information.

Prosopagnosia

An impairment in the ability to recognize faces.

Anomia

A form of aphasia where the person has difficulty recalling names of objects.

Thalamus

A brain structure that acts as a relay station for sensory information.

Amygdala

A brain structure involved in emotional memory.

Fornix

A C-shaped bundle of fibers in the brain that carries signals from the hippocampus.

Mammillary bodies

Brain structures that relay information from the hippocampus to the thalamus.

Temporal lobe

The area of the brain primarily associated with the processing of declarative memories.

Sensory register

The initial stage of memory that holds sensory information for a very brief period.