Anterograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia belongs to the category of neurological disorders. It is a kind of lacunar amnesia. That is, when memory loss affects individual events or time intervals. It is determined by the fact that all new events occurring with the patient are not stored in the long-term memory. It is characterized by forgetfulness, inability to learn new facts, inability to remember the events that occurred after the trauma. However, the ability to learn different skills remains intact.

There are two types of reasons why this memory loss develops . The disease can be caused by organic and psychogenic factors. The first can arise from brain injuries (this may be, for example, a concussion) or due to changes caused by various diseases (cancer, poisoning, alcoholism, various organic brain diseases). One of the causes of anterograde amnesia can be damage to the hypocampus, the vault of the brain and mastoid bodies. This indicates that it is on this part of the brain that the processes associated with long-term memory are tied. Psychogenic factors appear against a background of severe psychological trauma, when a person pushes out directly the fact of a traumatic event from memory.

According to statistics, anterograde amnesia is a rather rare type of memory impairment. The likelihood of occurrence is the same for men and women.

Course of the disease

The disease can last from a couple of days to several months. As a separate form, temporary anterograde amnesia is isolated. It can occur when taking sleeping pills or tranquilizers.

The onset of the disease begins with the fact that a person is not able to remember, and therefore never will be able to recall events from which he was distracted for a few moments. At the same time, the patient retains memories of the events preceding the trauma, and he may well talk about them. Events that take place at a given moment in time can only leave a trace in the form of short-lived scraps of memories.

Disorders of anterograde amnesia are transient, proceed according to the fixative type. The patient is not able to remember the current day of the week, how long he is in the hospital, the name of the attending physician, the fact of meeting with relatives and so on.

Very often anterograde amnesia takes place in a combined form with partial retrograde amnesia. That is, the memory of a part of the events that occurred before the onset of the disease, also remains inaccessible. Often this type of amnesia goes in pairs and with congestive amnesia. This is a type of memory impairment, when memories of events occurring at the time of trauma are broken.

Treatment of amnesia of this type occurs according to the treatment regimen of non-progressive amnesia. In the first stages, inpatient treatment is indicated. After discharge, the patient should undergo regular examinations until the symptoms disappear completely. The total treatment time can last from several weeks to six months. Anterograde amnesia in treatment requires the participation of a psychiatrist, a neurologist and a psychologist. It is based on the treatment of the underlying disease, which led to the disruption of the normal functioning of the memorization processes. Also shown are drugs that improve cholinergic conduction.

Treatment necessarily includes neuropsychological rehabilitation. It is built on conditional-situational methods. They include the solution of various tasks, tactical exercises and business games, various training. The application of these methods is based on the fact that the patient performs this kind of activity, whose elements in composition and content are close to real activity. Although, of course, are conditional.