Amnesia for current events. Short-term memory loss. Is it possible to return the memory

Amnesia - the loss of some memories or the inability to form new ones - is usually caused by damage to structures in the memory-forming part of the brain called the limbic system. Most often it is provoked by drug abuse or, as well as by a number of degenerative brain diseases.

Along with the more common neurological amnesia, there is a special type of it called psychogenic amnesia (dissociative amnesia, functional amnesia), associated exclusively with psychological factors. Much less is known about him, but a new study published in Brain: Journal of Neurology seems to be able to shed light on some of the things that have so far remained in question.

According to Live Science, the work in question is one of the most complete and ambitious to date. In addition to the previously unknown features of psychogenic amnesia, which affects approximately 3% of men and 1% of women worldwide, researchers have found that people suffering from it have a significantly better chance of recovery than anticipated.

Also in previous works on the topic, it was noted that certain conditions can push a person to the development of functional amnesia: either a crisis in a relationship, history or. But experts in the field of psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience at King's College London (King's College London) have found that there is more to come.

The new study involved 53 patients with functional amnesia, aged 21 to 66, who were detained at London's St Thomas' Hospital between 1990 and 2008. For the purity of the study, the list of participants also included 21 people with neurological memory loss and 14 people who had no memory problems at all.

In a series of experiments, the researchers found that, compared to people with neurological amnesia, people with functional amnesia were more likely to experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug or alcohol problems, and family conflicts. A minor head injury in the past - but not too severe to be a major cause of memory loss - was also common among participants with psychogenic amnesia.

Thus, the study identified indicators that can help clinicians distinguish functional from neurological amnesia, and be more sensitive to the treatment of pre-existing conditions (such as depression) in people who are at risk.

Amnesia is a disease that manifests itself in incomplete or completely absent memories of past events. It can act as an isolated disorder (amnestic syndrome), or against the background of other disorders, such as aphasia, agnosia, apraxia.


2. What are the causes of amnesia?

There are many reasons for the appearance of acute amnesia. It can be a consequence of traumatic brain injury, as a result of stroke, herpetic encephalitis, metabolic encephalopathy, intoxication. Degenerative brain disease, tumor, mental illness can lead to gradually increasing amnesia. The cause of transient memory impairment is epilepsy, cerebrovascular accident, migraine attacks.


3. What are the types of amnesia?

There are several types of amnesia, which differ in the nature and degree of memory loss:

1. Anterograde amnesia. All old memories have not been affected, but the patient does not remember anything after the onset of the disease.

2. Retrograde amnesia... Here, the opposite is true, all old memories are erased, but the patient remembers perfectly everything that happened to him after the onset of amnesia.

3. Paramnesia... With paramnesia, the patient remembers all the events, but in an embellished form.

4. Psychogenic escape... With this dissociative disorder, the patient completely loses his identity, forgetting who he is and how he used to live.

5. Fixation amnesia... The memory for the current (more than a few minutes) events is disturbed. Fixation amnesia is a component of Korsakov's syndrome.

6. Traumatic amnesia... It appears as a result of a head injury (impact, falling on the head). In most cases, it is temporary.

7. Korsakov's syndrome... Severe anterograde and retrograde amnesia due to a lack of vitamin B1 in the brain, most often caused by alcoholism.

8. Childhood amnesia... The inability of all people to remember events in their lives related to infancy and early childhood. Probable reasons are the underdevelopment of the corresponding areas of the brain.

9. Post-hypnotic amnesia... Inability to remember what happened during hypnosis.

4. How is amnesia treated?

If amnesia does not progress, neuropsychological rehabilitation methods can be used in treatment. From medicines prescribed piracetam 2-4 g / day, gliatilin 400-800 mg 3 times a day, pyritinol (encephabol) 300-600 mg / day, Cerebrolysin 10-20 ml intravenously.

Psychotherapy and hypnosis are used when amnesia is associated with psychological factors. In such cases, pentothal or sodium amytal are used as medicines. With a concussion, there is a possibility of gradual recovery of memory, but severe damage can lead to permanent memory loss.


5. What are the ways to prevent amnesia?

Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent amnesia. But you should know that the treatment started on time greatly accelerates the process of returning memory. If physical trauma or emotional shock has occurred, seek immediate medical attention to help reduce the likelihood of developing dissociative disorders.

6. Who provides treatment for amnesia?

In case of memory problems, you need to contact a psychiatrist.

Amnesia Is a state of complete or partial memory loss. It is considered not as a separate pathology, but as a symptom of many mental and neurological diseases.

GENERAL

On the basis of memories, a person feels like a person, because memory plays a huge role in conscious life. They tried to study the properties of memory in antiquity, but to the present day, many aspects of this issue remain unknown.

According to statistics, a quarter of the population suffers from memory loss to one degree or another. There is some relationship between the type of disorder and the age of the patient. Thus, traumatic amnesia is more common among middle-aged people, and progressive loss of memories is characteristic of older people. Brief amnesia is more common among middle-aged women, and children are often diagnosed with an infantile form of the disorder.

CAUSES

All causes of memory loss are usually divided into two groups:

  • Organic- amnesia after TBI, as a result of alcoholism, drug addiction, organic brain damage, edema, hypoxia, arteriosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, epileptic seizures, the appearance of oncological neoplasms, after poisoning with medicinal and toxic substances.
  • Psychological, or psychogenic - arise when trying to displace memories of the suffered psychological trauma during severe stress or shock. This is dissociative amnesia, in which only moments of a stressful situation are erased from memory.

CLASSIFICATION OF AMNESIA BY CURRENT

Depending on which time interval was not remembered, there are three types of memory loss.

Types of amnesia:

  • Retrograde- there are no memories of a small time interval that preceded the traumatic circumstances. This phenomenon is due to the fact that the actions did not have time to be fixed in long-term memory and were lost forever.
  • Anterograde- the patient cannot remember the events that occurred after regaining consciousness or the recession of acute symptoms of the disease. A person's behavior does not change, he maintains a conversation and performs some actions, but after a while he cannot remember this period of time.
  • Congrad amnesia- is not directly related to memory loss, but consists in the inability to perceive and record information while in a coma, unconscious state or in a stopper.

CLASSIFICATION OF AMNESIA BY THE NATURE OF MEMORY LOSS

The causes and symptoms of memory loss determine the nature of the memory disorder.

  • Traumatic- develops as a result of head trauma, as a rule, is temporary, can be partial and complete. Post-traumatic amnesia occurs not only as a result of physical trauma, it can be caused by a strong psychological shock. This condition is accompanied by headaches and increased sensitivity to stimuli. As he recovers, memories gradually return to the patient.
  • Fixation amnesia is diagnosed in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome and is considered as a combination of retrograde and anterograde abnormalities. Generally known and professional information remains in memory, while facts from personal life, recent and current events are lost. A person may not remember who he is, but at the same time he recognizes his friends and knows where and with whom he spent his vacation last year. Fixation amnesia is often accompanied by disorientation in space.
  • Dissociative amnesia - the patient forgets certain periods of his life, some events, and may also not recognize objects, forget the algorithms of movements and speech patterns. Usually, the disorder is provoked by psychological shock. The most serious condition is a dissociative fugue, during which a person forgets his name and past. Such patients come up with a new biography and show a tendency to vagrancy.

CLASSIFICATION OF AMNESIA BY FEATURES OF DEVELOPMENT

  • Progressive amnesia is the successive loss of memory of episodes from present events to older ones. The ability to memorize is gradually lost, information from memory gets confused and lost. The emotional coloring of the past is gradually fading away, and it is erased from memory. Memories of childhood and adolescence, as well as professional skills, are clearly preserved.
  • Stationary - only certain life events are erased from memory, in general there is no tendency to deteriorate the situation.
  • Regressive - has the property of gradual restoration of lost memories.

NARCOTIC AMNESIA

Intoxication memory loss is characterized by the loss of memories at the time of the use of high doses of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol has a depressing effect on the human nervous system, therefore, periods of increased use do not leave traces in the memory. The higher the dose of ethanol in the drink, the more pronounced the negative effect on humans.

Types of alcoholic amnesia:

  • Alcoholic palimplest- the general picture of events is preserved, it is impossible to remember only some episodes of what is happening.
  • Narcotic alcoholic amnesia- the loss of the thread of events for a sufficiently long period of time is characteristic of alcoholics or those who drank excessive amounts of alcohol.
  • Total loss of memory- the entire period of drinking alcohol is not reflected in the memories. If memory lapses are recorded after the first doses of intoxicating drinks, then such a symptom is considered as a sign of the last stage of alcoholism.

Such memory loss with prolonged alcohol abuse tends to progress. Gradually, more and more time intervals are exposed to forgetfulness, and memory loss occurs when drinking less and less alcohol.

Amnesia is a disease characterized by the absence of recollection of certain events or incomplete recollection of them.

Amnesia can be observed in old age against the background of natural degeneration of brain structures, and it can also occur in a younger age, but for a number of other reasons.

Amnesia causes

There are many causes of amnesia, but in some cases, doctors are never able to determine why a person has memory loss.

The most common causes of amnesia are:

  • violation of the integrity of the brain due to traumatic brain injury, especially with damage to the temporal lobe;
  • chronic lack of vitamin D in the body;
  • intoxication, including various drugs (benzodiazepines, barbiturates);
  • violation of cerebral circulation;
  • severe psychological trauma;
  • alcoholism
  • the effect of hypnosis on human consciousness;
  • epilepsy;
  • severe overwork, stress, increased emotional stress;
  • stroke, herpetic encephalitis, neoplasms, metabolic encephalopathy, degeneration of brain tissue;
  • migraine;
  • schizophrenia;
  • Alzheimer's disease;
  • elderly age.

Types and symptoms of amnesia

There are different types of amnesia.

So, according to the period of time that has fallen out of memory, the following are distinguished:

  • retrograde amnesia. This type of amnesia is associated with the loss of memories of events that preceded the disease;
  • anterograde amnesia. In this case, the memories of the period after coming out of unconsciousness are lost. At the same time, the patient does not remember recent events, cannot assimilate new information;
  • antiretrograde amnesia, which is a combination of the above two types of amnesia;
  • retarded amnesia, when memories are lost some time after a period of loss of consciousness.

By the nature of development, there are:

  • regressing amnesia - amnesia, which is characterized by the restoration of lost memories.
  • progressive amnesia. In this case, there is a gradual erasure of memories from the present moment to past events. The ability to remember new events is impaired, memories get confused in time and are lost, the emotional coloring of past events fades away, and they are lost over time. At the same time, the events of childhood and adolescence, as well as professional skills and abilities, are clearly remembered.
  • stationary amnesia - unchanging and persistent loss of memory for certain life events.

There are also such types of amnesia as:

  • fixative amnesia, which is expressed in a violation of memory for events that occurred a few minutes ago. This type of amnesia is common in patients with Korsakoff syndrome. At the same time, the patient's condition is not disturbed, but he does not orientate himself in space and his personality, he can ask others about who he is, where he is, what is wrong with him. The manifestation of symptoms of amnesia can be paroxysmal, while what happened during the attack, the patient does not remember. The disease can be accompanied by headaches, sensory disturbances, poor coordination of movements, arrhythmias of cardiac activity;
  • post-hypnotic amnesia occurs after hypnosis sessions. Patients do not remember what happened to them during the session;
  • post-traumatic amnesia is caused by concussion, head trauma, and most often resolves after appropriate treatment. Symptoms of post-traumatic amnesia are associated with impaired short-term memory. The patient does not remember the events that immediately preceded the injury. The patient's memory is restored as he recovers;
  • Korsakov's syndrome - severe retrograde and anterograde amnesia arising from a lack of vitamin B1 in the brain;
  • childhood amnesia. Every person has this type of amnesia. This is due to the immaturity of certain areas of the brain in children;
  • initial amnesia. In this case, having any information, the person does not remember from which source he received it;
  • dissociative amnesia is associated with the fact that a person forgets periods of life or certain events, may stop recognizing familiar words and speech patterns (aphasia), motor schemes (apraxia), objects (agnosia);

This type of amnesia is divided into:

localized amnesia - violation of only one modality of memory;

selective - when the patient remembers certain universal knowledge and forgets some events that occurred in a limited period of time;

generalized - when the patient forgets everything that happens in a limited period of time;

continuous - when the patient ceases to remember new events;

  • dissociative fugue is associated with the fact that the patient completely forgets his name, biography, personal information. This type of amnesia can last for several minutes or several days. In this case, the patient forgets who he is or associates himself with a completely different person;
  • prosopamnesia is a poor ability to remember people's faces.

The condition after a concussion is characterized by the development of retrograde amnesia. For more severe injuries - anterethrograde amnesia.

Korsakoff's syndrome is typically characterized by retrograde and fixative amnesia. Confabulations are possible. This condition is typical for malignant tumors, alcoholism, AIDS, vitamin B1 deficiency, degenerative dementia, herpetic encephalitis.

In case of intoxication, events that occurred during poisoning with drugs, pesticides, alcohol, barbiturates, carbon monoxide, benzodiazepines are forever erased from memory.

In the case of epilepsy, memory is lost for the events that occurred during the epileptic seizure.

Amnesia treatment

The memory mechanism is very complex. Recovering erased memories is a major challenge.

The main areas of treatment for amnesia are:

  • treatment of the underlying disease;
  • neuropsychological rehabilitation.

In the drug treatment of amnesia, agents are used that activate the cholinergic processes of the brain, such as piracetam, gliatilin, encephabol, and cerebrolysin.

The dosage of drugs and the treatment regimen are selected by the doctor, depending on the severity of the amnesia.

In the treatment of amnesia, hypno-suggestive therapy is also used, which consists in the fact that the patient is put into a state of hypnosis, during which he recalls forgotten facts and events in his memory. Sometimes, barbiturates may be given to help the patient remember certain facts more quickly.

Also in the treatment of amnesia, psychotherapeutic methods are used, for example, color therapy, which in some cases gives very good results. The essence of this psychotherapeutic technique boils down to the fact that each constitutional type has its own color. For patients with a "cold" constitution, warm colors are used, for patients with a "hot" type of constitution - cold colors. The color effect is carried out either on the whole body of a patient with amnesia or only on the eyes.

Many people are familiar with the concept of "amnesia", usually from movies and TV series, where the main character or heroine regains consciousness after an accident and cannot remember anything about herself or her past life, and miraculous love comes to the rescue, which eliminates all symptoms. Alas, in life everything is much more complicated and there is no need to wait for a miracle. Amnesia is a persistent illness that develops under the influence of physical or mental factors and interferes with the patient's ability to recall memories or remember new information. Such a disease is a violation of cognitive function - memory. Achieve complete remission is possible only in exceptional cases; vitamins, neuroprotectors and rehabilitation work with a psychologist are used as therapy. To learn more about the disease, its causes, symptoms and types, read the information below.

What is amnesia?

Amnesia is a complete or partial loss of memory, a violation of cognitive function, which manifests itself in the inability to remember and store new information or to recall memories, events from the past. The disease can manifest itself in several forms, be of varying severity, depending on which the symptoms of its manifestation differ. A person with amnesia loses memories from the past, loses the ability to memorize new information, but, as a rule, remembers who he is and the basic data of his biography, as well as skills and abilities.


Depending on the form of memory loss, there are:

  • Complete amnesia - this disease is characterized by complete loss of memory, erasure of all memories for a specific period of time.
  • Partial - some "scraps" of memories remain in the patient's memory, images are preserved. A characteristic feature is a violation of orientation in time and space.

There are several types of amnesia, depending on the length of time that has been "erased" from memory:

  • Retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories of incidents, events that occurred before the onset of the development of the disease. This type of disease does not respond to treatment.
  • Anterograde - this form of the disease occurs when the brain is injured. The patient retains the ability to memorize new information, but it is not stored in long-term memory, so he forgets it after a few minutes or hours. With the development of anterograde amnesia, a person retains clarity of mind, intelligence and intelligence, but due to the development of the disease, working capacity decreases, which leads to problems at work, as well as in family life.
  • Anterethrograde - this form of amnesia combines the signs of retrograde and antegrade.
  • Retarded - loss of memory appears a short time after loss of consciousness.
  • Dissociative - with this type of disease, the patient cannot remember some information, but general knowledge, skills and abilities will remain. Such an ailment develops, as a rule, with severe psychological trauma (for example, in victims or witnesses of violence, disasters, accidents). Amnesia occurs as a protective reaction of the body to stress, the brain tries to erase from memory the memories that cause pain, suffering and shock. Often, such a disease passes safely a short time after the injury.

Depending on the course of the disease and its development, there are several main types of amnesia:

  • Progressive - with this form of the disease, a slow, gradual erasure of memories occurs, a violation is observed in the process of memorizing new information and events, all memories become confused, lose their emotional color.
  • Regressive - this type of amnesia is characterized by a temporary loss of memory with the possibility of its further recovery.
  • Stationary - a type of disease in which there is a persistent loss of memory, as a result of which memories of a particular stage of life or life events are erased.


Amnesia causes

In medicine, the following main reasons for the development of amnesia are distinguished:

  • Head trauma (craniocerebral, concussion).
  • Development of tumor formations in the brain.
  • Poisoning with potent drugs or intoxication of the body (abuse of sleeping pills, antidepressants, chemicals).
  • Violations in the work of the human psyche.
  • Migrated
  • Paralysis.
  • Prolonged oxygen starvation.
  • Infectious diseases of the brain -,.
  • Strong emotional stress.
  • Frequent
  • Mature age, due to degenerative processes in the brain.

A separate group is represented by memory loss provoked by psychogenic factors (psychological trauma, strong emotional experiences, stress, and others). There are two main types of such amnesia: dissociative (characterized by loss of memory of recent events, as a rule, of those that provoked the illness, while retaining all basic skills, abilities and other memories) and dissociative fugue (complete loss of memory and all memories of oneself, others).

Symptoms of the disease

There are the main signs of true memory loss:

  • Violation of the ability to remember new information after the development of the disease.
  • Frequent,
  • Violation of a person's ability to recall past events, to recall some information.
  • The complete absence of any kind of memories of yourself, your life, others, occupation.
  • Violation of orientation in space and time.
  • The development of a depressive and severe emotional state.

Regardless of the type, form and degree of memory loss, a person retains the clarity of consciousness, intelligence and thinking of a healthy person. A particular danger of amnesia is that the patient loses the ability to lead a full life (go to work, start a family, raise children, and much more). This negatively affects his general mental state, which leads to the development, and sexual function, attempts at suicide.

Diagnosis of the disease

The doctor uses the following methods to diagnose amnesia:


  • MRI, CT of the brain - these diagnostic methods allow you to identify degenerative, structural changes in the brain and its cortex, help determine the violation of blood circulation and establish the presence of tumor formations.
  • Conducting a variety of tests to determine the function of memory, to identify the degree of its impairment and type.

Amnesia treatment

Recovering lost memories and regaining memory is an extremely difficult task, the solution of which requires an integrated approach. Treatment for amnesia includes:

  • Identification and elimination of the causes that provoked the disease. For example, detoxification of the body, treatment of head injuries, infectious diseases.
  • For treatment, drug therapy is actively used, which includes the intake of antioxidants, neutroprotectors, nootropics, vitamins, in particular, group B. At the same time, it is worth stopping the intake of antidepressants, neuroleptics, as well as drugs and alcohol.
  • Physiotherapy procedures.
  • If the cause of the disease is psychological trauma, work with a psychologist and psychiatrist is required.
  • Use of improvised tools, stickers, gadgets that will help save important information and data (for example, address, to-do list, important contact phone numbers, etc.). These techniques will not only help a person feel more confident, but also provide him with some kind of security.


Disease prevention

In order to prevent the development of amnesia, preventive measures should be taken, which include:

  • Complete cessation of drug use and smoking.
  • Leading a healthy lifestyle, including: proper, balanced diet, regular physical activity, walks in the fresh air.
  • Timely treatment of diseases that can provoke amnesia.
  • Seeing a doctor when the first symptoms of the disease appear, passing preventive examinations.
Loading ...Loading ...