Memory disorders

Three types of memory

Sensory memory, is registered for each of the senses
and its purpose is to facilitate the rapid processing of
incoming stimuli. This is a first selective attention sieve
that allows to sift out the relevant material from
sensory memory for further processing and storage in
short-term memory.
Most sensory memory fades within a few seconds.
Three types of memory
Short-term memory, also called working memory,
allows to store of memories for much longer than the
sensory memory. Approximately for 20’. Short-term
memory aids the constant updating of one’s
surroundings.
Long-term memory is responsible for encoding of
information. Encoding is the process of placing
information into what is believed to be a limitless
memory reservoir.
Placing (encoding) can be:
A) intentional or specific. Here people memorize items
voluntary, and
B) general memory then items are memorized
“between this and then”, unintentionally.
There are three main types of encoding:
visual (most biased and inaccurate),
acoustic (more accurate),
semantic (most effective and accurate).
Long-term vs short-term memory
Long-term memory is resilient to attack, unlike, which
is sensitive to disorders of brain tissue such as
Alzheimer’s disease
(The holonomic brain theory, by t Karl and David Bohm)
 Memory impairments
1. Amnesia /æmˈniː.zi.ə/ (loss of memory)
a. Normal memory decay
b. Organic
c. Psychogenic
2. Paramnesias (distortions of memory)
a. Distortions of recall and
b. Distortions of recognition.
 Amnesias
Amnesia is defined as partial or total inability to recall
past experiences and events and its origin may be
1. Normal memory decay. Can occur if an item is not
rehearsed the memory fades and thereafter cannot
be retrieved or because of interference from related
material (French - Spanish).
 Amnesias
Psychogenic amnesia
Dissociative or “hysterical” amnesia is the sudden amnesia
that occurs during periods of extreme trauma and can last
for hours or even days. The amnesia will be
1. for particular traumatic point (personal identity such as
name, address and history as well as for personal events),
2. the ability to perform complex behaviors is maintained.
3. There is a discrepancy between the marked memory
impairment and the preservation of personality and social
skills
 Amnesias
Psychogenic amnesia
•Fugue or wandering state in which the subject travels
to another town or country and is often found
wandering and lost.
•Katathymic amnesia is the inability to recall specific
painful memories, and is believed to occur due to the
defence mechanism of repression
 Amnesias
Psychogenic amnesia
Anxiety amnesia occurs when there is anxious preoccupation or poor
concentration in disorders such as depressive illness or generalised
anxiety.
Amnesia in depressive disorder. In this case amnesia resemble
dementia and is known as depressive pseudodementia.
N.B. Amnesias in anxiety and depressive disorders are generally caused
by impaired concentration and resolve once the underlying disorder is
treated.
Organic amnesias
Acute brain disease can cause:
Retrograde amnesia, that embraces the events just before the injury
(is usually no longer than a few minutes but may be longer);
Anterograde amnesia is amnesia for events occurring after the injury.
These occur most commonly:
1. In Accidents or
2. As a Blackouts witch are the periods of ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA
experienced particularly by those who are alcohol dependent
during and following bouts of drinking
 Organic amnesias.
Subacute brain disease
Korsakoff’s syndrome
The characteristic memory disorder is the amnestic state in
which the patient is unable to record current and recent
events or register new memories.
(anterograde amnesia) + (retrograde amnesia)
memories from the remote past remain intact.
E.g.: amnestic syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency in
alcohol abuse, cerebrovascular disease, multiple sclerosis,,
head injury and electroconvulsive treatment (ECT).
 Organic amnesias
Chronic brain disease
Progressive amnesia this an amnesia extending over
many years. Thus the memory for recent events is lost
before that for the earlier events (from today to
childhood and to birth).
This was pointed out by Ribot and is known as Ribot’s
law of memory regression.
 Paramnesia (distortions of memory)
is the falsification of memory by distortion and can be
conveniently divided into
1. Distortions of recall
a) Cryptamnesia
b) False memory
c) Pseudologia fantastica
d) Confabulation
e) Munchausen’s syndrome
2. Distortions of recognition.
a) Hyperamnesia
b) Déjà vu
False memory
False memory is the recollection of an event (or
events) that did not occur but which the individual
subsequently strongly believes did take place
•F.g. a person who says they were in hospital
following a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) when in
fact they had no recollection of this and had been
told by their family that it had happened
Cryptamnesia
Cryptamnesia is described as the experience of
remembering of information, images, stories as that
they had happened with the person, but in deed
he/her had read, heard or saw this information some
were else (memories with the hidden source)

F.g. A person writes a witty passage and does not

realize that they are quoting from some passage they
have seen elsewhere rather than writing something
original.
 Confabulation
Confabulation is the falsification of memory occurring in
clear consciousness in association with organic pathology.
It manifests itself as the filling-in of gaps in memory by
imagined or untrue experiences that have no basis in fact.
a) The embarrassed type in which the patient tries to fill in
gaps in memory as a result of an awareness of a deficit
b) The fantastic type in which the lacunae are filled in by
details exceeding the need of the memory impairment
such as descriptions of wild adventures.
 Pseudologia fantastica
Pseudologia fantastica or fluent plausible lying
(pathological lying) is the term used, by convention, to
describe the confabulation that occurs in those without
organic brain pathology such as personality disorder of
antisocial or hysterical type.

•F.g. The subject describes various major events and

traumas or makes grandiose claims and these often
present at a time of personal crisis, such as facing legal
proceedings.
Munchausen’s syndrome
Munchausen’s syndrome is a variant of pathological
lying in which the individual presents to hospitals with
bogus illnesses, complex medical histories and often
multiple surgical scars.
This may lead to repeated presentations to hospital
over a prolonged period of time and both diagnosis
and management can be very challenging in these
cases.
 Distortions of recognition
Hyperamnesia or exaggerated registration, retention and
recall.
•Flashbulb memories are those memories that are
associated with intense emotion (9/11).
•Flashbacks are sudden intrusive memories that are
associated with the cognitive and emotional experiences
of a traumatic event such as an accident (post-traumatic
stress disorder)
•Hypomanic hypermnesia
Distortions of recognition
Déjà vu is not strictly a disturbance of memory, but a
problem with the familiarity of places and events. It
comprises the feeling of having experienced a current
event in the past, although it has no basis in fact.