PSYC 3265 Chapter Notes - Chapter 16: Retrograde Amnesia, Autobiographical Memory, Word Stem
26 Nov 2014
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Chapter 16: amnesia: amnesia is the catastrophic loss of memories or memory abilities beyond what is expected w/ normal forgetting, along w/ otherwise normal intelligence & attention span. However, w/ longer periods of time, it"s more likely that permanent cell damage (and therefore permanent memory loss) & death will occur. Non-declarative memories & semantic knowledge (but not personal semantic info) are largely preserved: in retrograde amnesia, memory loss may not be immediate. Not all info was lost for the amnesic period, but imp. personal info was lost: although memories often return during recovery, in more severe cases they don"t, p. s had a stroke which sustained damage to his thalamus. Electroconvulsive therapy/shock: retrograde amnesia can also occur when a powerful electrical current is passed through the brain. In some cases this is done as part of a therapeutic treatment: this is electroconvulsive therapy.
