Amnesia
Amnesia is a disease that results in memory loss. This includes the loss of the ability to recall past information and/or retain new information. Amnesia may be organic, that is, due to brain damage, injury or use of drugs; or it may be functional, that is, due to psychological factors such as trauma.
Amnesia is different from forgetfulness. It refers to large scale memory loss including important details, events and people in your life. If you are suffering from amnesia, you will usually have a sense of self, but forget past experiences and have trouble learning new information.
Amnesia is a rare disease. Below are the main types of amnesia:
Anterograde amnesia: This is when information that should be stored into short-term memory disappears. This is usually caused by trauma such as brain damage from a blow to the head. If you are suffering from anterograde amnesia, you will be able to remember data and events which happened before the injury.
Retrograde amnesia: This is the opposite of anterograde amnesia. You cannot remember events that occurred before the trauma, but can remember things that happen after it.
Transient global amnesia: This is a temporary loss of all memory. This is a very rare form of amnesia. Such patients are usually older and have some sort of vascular disease (that is, related to the blood vessels).
Traumatic amnesia: This is a type of memory loss caused by a hard blow to the head, for instance, people who lose their memory as the result of a car accident. In the majority of cases the amnesia is temporary, depending on how severe the injury is.
Wernicke-Korsakoff's psychosis: This is a type of amnesia caused by extended alcohol abuse. It is a progressive disorder (that is, gets worse over time) accompanied by other neurological problems such as numbness in the toes and fingers.
Hysterical (fugue) amnesia: This is a very rare type of amnesia in which you forget your own identity. It is thought to be triggered by an event that your mind is unable to cope with. It is usually a temporary condition.
Childhood amnesia: In this type of amnesia, you are unable to recall events from early childhood, probably because the memory areas of the brain were not fully mature during childhood.
Blackout phenomenon: This type of amnesia is caused by heavy drinking. The person cannot remember what he/she did during the drinking binge.
Prosopamnesia: In this type of amnesia, you are unable to remember people’s faces.
