AMNESIA

• Case studies of amnesia support the MSM as retrograde amnesia affects the retrieval of LTM, while anterograde amnesia affects ability to transfer infromation from STM to LTM.
• Also supports the idea of there being seperat types of LTM as generally not all forms of LTM will be affected.

RETROGRADE AMNESIA:  

Usually seen in Alzheimer's patients, deterioration of LTM (memory storage).

Scott Bolzan Case Study:

• Ex-American football player who lost access to his LTM following a head trauma. Didn't know his name, his wife, what he did for a living but could still create new memories by transferring STM's to LTM's.

ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA:  

Lack of ability to create new memories, transfer STM to LTM.

Clive Wearing Case Study:

• Musician and conductor who suffered viral encephalitis resulting in anterograde amnesia.  Knew who he was, what he did, much of his childhood and family history and world events  but only up to a few years before illness.  
• His procedural LTM was still intact, so could still play the piano. Also shows that there are seperate types of LTM since not all are affected.
• A prisoner of the present moment.  Talks about the here and now.
• Has a conscious working memory of about 30 secs.
• Continually feels like he is just waking up - a continual state he experiences unless he is engaged in playing the piano or patience.
• Diary entries chart his continual waking up, he refuses to believe the previous entries are written by him, even though he acknowledges they are in his handwriting, so each entry is the first CONSCIOUS entry as he thinks the previous one was written whilst he was unconscious.

Clive Wearing Case Study Cont.

• Very unique case.
• Musical skills are intact - procedural LTM - the part of the brain where these memories are located has not been damaged.
• Significant semantic and episodic impairments however.  No general knowledge and unable to learn anything new since his illness, perhaps just 4 or 5 things he's learnt in the years following.
• It's apparent that learning is going on, but he's not conscious of it, since he watches videos everyday and has begun to antipcate what happens next, despite no recollection of watching it previously.