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H.M Case Study
Anterograde amnesia is the loss in the ability to form new memories which occurs after an incident, meaning that a person is unable to store new information in their short term memory, however memories prior to the incident are kept preserved and are easily recalled. The case of H.M, Henry Molaison, played an important role in developing theories which linked functions of the brain to memory as it led to the discovery of anterograde amnesia. H.M was born on February 26 1926 and had suffered from epilepsy, therefore to treat the severe symptoms he underwent brain surgery when he was 27 years old. The surgery removed his hippocampus and although his epileptic seizures were controlled, he suffered from anterograde amensia for the rest of his life. Without both his hippocampi, he was unable to transfer any new information to his long term memory, therefore he could not learn any new information whether it was words or faces. However, according to Dr. Jenni Ogden (2012), he did gain the ability to learn new motor skills, but on a "subconscious level". |