Amnesia Facts - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

About This Presentation

Title:

Amnesia Facts

Description:

Number of Views:63

Slides: 14

Provided by: pasha788

Category: Medicine, Science & Technology

Tags: amnesia | disease | forget | gajne | memoryloss

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Amnesia Facts

1
Amnesia

2
Description of Amnesia by Must4care

Amnesia is when a person can no longer memorize
or recall information that is stored in memory.
It is very rare, despite being a popular theme
for movies and books.
Being a little forgetful is completely different
to having amnesia. Amnesia refers to a
large-scale loss of memories that should not have
been forgotten.
These may include important milestones in life,
memorable events, key people in our lives, and
vital facts we have been told or taught.

3
Fast Facts on Amnesia

Amnesia is an inability to lay down new memories,
recall old memories, or both.
Other symptoms of amnesia can include confusion
and uncoordinated movements.
Alcohol abuse can lead to a type of amnesia known
as Wernicke-Korsakoff's psychosis.
Amnesia can be caused by many things including
traumatic experiences and brain injury.
Amnesia usually resolves without treatment.

4
What is Amnesia?

People with amnesia also find it hard to remember
the past, memorize new information, and imagine
the future. This is because we construct future
scenarios on the basis of our recollections of
past experiences.
Our ability to recollect events and experiences
involves a variety of complex brain processes. We
still don't understand exactly what happens when
we commit something to memory, or when we try to
retrieve data stored in our brain.
Most people with amnesia are usually lucid and
have a sense of self. However, they may
experience severe difficulties in learning new
information, struggle to recall memories of past
experiences, or both.

5
Types of Amnesia

Anterograde Amnesia
The person cannot remember new information.
Things that happened recently and information
that should be stored into short-term memory
disappear. This usually results from a brain
trauma, when a blow to the head causes brain
damage, for example. The person will remember
data and events that happened before the injury.
Retrograde Amnesia
In some ways the opposite of anterograde amnesia,
the person cannot remember events that occurred
before their trauma, but they remember what
happened after it. Rarely, both retrograde and
anterograde amnesia can occur together.
Transient Global Amnesia
A temporary loss of all memory and, in severe
cases, difficulty forming new memories. This is
very rare and more likely in older adults with
vascular (blood vessel) disease.

6
Types of Amnesia

Wernicke-Korsakoff's psychosis
Extended alcohol abuse can lead to progressive
memory loss that worsens over time. The
person may also have neurological problems, such
as poor coordination and a loss of feeling in the
toes and fingers. It can also be caused
by malnutrition, specifically a thiamin
(vitamin B1) deficiency.
Hysterical (fugue or dissociative) amnesia
Rarely, a person can forget not only their past
but also their identity. They may wake up and
suddenly have no sense of who they are. Even if
they look in the mirror, they do not recognize
their own reflection. A driving license, credit
cards, or ID card will be meaningless. It is
usually triggered by an event that the person's
mind is unable to cope with properly. The ability
to remember usually returns either slowly or
suddenly within a few days, but the memory of the
shocking event may never come back completely.
Childhood amnesia (infantile amnesia)
The person cannot recall events from early
childhood, possible because of a language
development problem or some memory areas of the
brain not fully maturing during childhood.

7
Types of Amnesia

Posthypnotic Amnesia
Mustforcare says that in this Amnesia Events
during hypnosis cannot be recalled.
Source Amnesia
The person can remember certain information but
not how or where they got that information.
Blackout Phenomenon
A bout of heavy drinking can leave a person with
memory gaps, where they cannot remember chunks of
time during the binge.
Prosopamnesia
The person cannot remember faces. People can
either acquire it or be born with it.

8
Symptoms of Amnesia

The ability to learn new information is impaired
in anterograde amnesia.
The ability to remember past events and
previously familiar information is impaired in
retrograde amnesia
False memories may be either completely invented
or consist of real memories misplaced in time, in
a phenomenon known as confabulation.
Uncoordinated movements and tremors indicate
neurological problems.
Confusion or disorientation may occur.
There may be problems with short-term memory,
partial or total loss of memory
The person may be unable to recognize faces or
locations.

9
Causes of Amnesia

Any disease or injury that affects the brain can
interfere with memory. Memory function engages
many different parts of the brain simultaneously.

Medical Amnesia- Amnesia resulting from brain
injury or damage. Possible causes are
Stroke
Encephalitis, or brain inflammation, due to a
bacterial or viral infection or an autoimmune
reaction
Celiac disease may be linked to amnesia,
confusion, and personality changes
Oxygen deprivation, resulting, for example, from
a heart attack, respiratory distress, or carbon
monoxide poisoning
Some medications, such as the sleeping drug,
Ambien
Subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding in the area
between the skull and the brain
A brain tumor that affects a part of the brain
involved in memory
Some seizure disorders
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)), or electroshock
therapy, a psychiatric treatment where seizures
are induced for therapeutic effect, may lead to
temporary memory loss
Head injuries, which can lead to loss of memory
that is usually temporary

10
Causes of Amnesia

Psychological amnesia- Also known as
dissociative amnesia, this is caused by an
emotional shock, such as
A Violent Crime
Sexual Or Other Abuse
Military Combat
A Natural Disaster
A Terrorist Act

11
Treatment of Amnesia

In most cases, amnesia resolves itself without
treatment. However, if an underlying physical or
mental disorder is present, treatment may be
necessary.
Psychotherapy can help some patients. Hypnosis
can be an effective way of recalling memories
that have been forgotten.
Family support is crucial. Photographs, smells,
and music may help.
Treatment often involves techniques and
strategies to help compensate for the memory
problem.
This may involve
Working with an occupational therapist to acquire
new information to replace lost memories, or to
use existing memories as a basis for acquiring
new information.
Learning strategies for organizing information,
to make it easier to store.
Using digital aids, such as smartphones, to help
with daily tasks and remind patients about
important events, when to take medications, and
so on. A contact list with photographs of faces
may be helpful.
There are currently no drugs for restoring memory
lost due to amnesia.
Malnutrition or wernicke-korsakoff syndrome can
involve memory loss due to a thiamin (vitamin b1)
deficiency, so targeted nutrition can help.