Amnestic syndrome

Amnesia is memory loss, such as reality, information and experience. Although memory loss is often portrayed in movies or television that you can not remember who you are, in real life amnesia generally does not cause you to forget your identity.

Those with amnesia-also called amnestic syndrome-usually remember clearly who they are, but it's hard to learn new information and remember something new.

Amnesia can be caused by damage to areas in the brain that are vital to the process of remembering. Unlike temporary memory loss (transient global amnesia), amnestic syndrome may be permanent.

There is no specific treatment for amnesia, but the techniques improve memory and psychological support to help them with amnesia.

Symptoms

There are two common forms of amnesia:

• Lack of ability to learn new information (anterograde amnesia)

• Lack of ability to recall past events and prior information (retrograde amnesia)

Most of those with amnestic syndrome have problems with short-term memory they can not receive new information. Many also have some weak rank of memory. Memories of the distant past as gone, but still there and stored unconsciously. Some of them can recall a childhood experience or know the name of the previous president, but can not remember the name of the current president or another example is if they have breakfast.

Memory loss has no effect on a person's intelligence, general knowledge, awareness, attention, judgment, personality or identity. Those with amnestic syndrome usually can understand how to write or speak and can learn skills such as cycling or playing the piano. They can also understand that they have a memory impairment.

Amnesia is not the same as dementia. Dementia is often associated with memory loss, but also other significant cognitive problems that lead to a deterioration in the ability of daily activities. This pattern also typically are common symptoms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but the memory and other cognitive problems are not as severe as in MCI dementia.

Causes & Risk Factors

Cause

Memory function normally involve many parts of the brain, and any disease or injury that affects the brain can influence it. Amnesia can result from damage to brain structures that form the limbic system, which controls emotions and your mind. This structure consists of the thalamus, which is contained in the center of the brain, and the hippocampal formation, which is in the lobes of your brain.

Amnestic syndrome due to brain injury or damage is known as neurological or organic amnesia. Possible causes neurological amnesia include:

• Stroke

• Swelling of the brain (encephalitis) resulting from viral infections such as herpes simplex virus (HSV) or as an autoimmune reaction to cancer elsewhere in the body (paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, or PLE)

• Not enough oxygen in the brain (such as heart attack, carbon monoxide poison or difficulty breathing)

• Alcohol abuse in the long-term lead to a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B-1)

• Tumors in the brain area that controls memory

• The disease decreased ability of the brain, such as Alzheimer and other forms of dementia

Head injuries can cause problems in remembering new information, especially in the early stages of healing-but usually does not cause severe amnesia.

Other rare type of amnesia is psychogenic or dissociative amnesia, which is formed from trauma, such as victims of crime. This disorder can cause a person to forget the personality or identity, usually only a short time.

Risk factors

The risk of experiencing amnesia increases if you:

• Operation of the brain, head injury or trauma

• Stroke

• Alcohol abuse

• Seizures

Prevention

Due to damage to the brain can be the root of the problem amnesia, it is essential to take steps to minimize the chances of brain injury was exposed. For example:

• Avoid excessive alcohol use

• Wear a helmet when cycling or using a seat belt when driving

• Treat infection quickly so it does not spread to the brain

• Seek emergency medical help if you have any symptoms that indicate a stroke or an aneurysm in the brain, such as severe headache or numbness on one side.