NESC 3227 Lecture Notes - Parahippocampal Gyrus, Basal Ganglia, Temporal Lobe
Document Summary
Had both temporal lobes removed in order to control his epileptic seizures. Couldn"t be controlled by nearly lethal doses of anti-epileptic drugs. Had anterograde amnesia as a result, as well as retrograde amnesia: retrograde memories were preserved up until a certain time, but most of them had disappeared. Still had some of his temporal lobe remaining after the surgery: the important bits that were involved in memory and emotional processing had been removed. The only person he can remember is his neurologist: because he had very long history with him, couldn"t remember anyone else. Can"t learn a maze learning task: can"t even remember trying to learn this from the day before. Memory was spared on some tasks: span of attention, looking online, finding a phone number, remembering it, then dialing it. As long as he uses rehearsal, he"s able to keep it in mind: procedural learning, such as the mirror drawing task.