Amnesia pathophysiology
|
Amnesia Microchapters |
|
Diagnosis |
|---|
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Amnesia pathophysiology On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Amnesia pathophysiology |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Amnesia pathophysiology |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Aditya Govindavarjhulla, M.B.B.S. [2]
Overview
Amnesia (from Greek Ἀμνησία) is a condition in which memory is disturbed. The causes of amnesia are organic or functional. In simple terms it is the loss of memory. Organic causes include damage to the brain, through trauma or disease, or use of certain (generally sedative) drugs. Functional causes are psychological factors, such as defense mechanisms.
Pathophysiology
The memory is affected by the damage that may occur in the different parts of the brain such as medial temporal lobe, hippocampus, cortex and frontal lobes. Injuring any of these areas may lead to specific disruptions in the processes of acquiring and restoring memory. For instance, damage to the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus can devastate the ability to acquire new declarative memory whereas damage to the storage areas in cortex can disrupt retrieval of old memories and interfere with acquisition of new memories.[1]