Retrograde amnesia

Introduction There is a long-lasting loss of memory for events and experiences before the accident. Retrograde amnesia is a side effect associated with sedative and hypnotic effects of drugs. Retrograde forgetting is the inability to memorize information after taking the drug. All sedative and hypnotic drugs have retrograde amnesia side effects, and the degree of forgetting is related to the type of drug and the plasma concentration of the drug, that is, the degree of information received and the degree of forgetting, that is, the higher the drug dose, the higher the blood concentration, the forgetting The more serious it is.

Cause

When the human brain suffers from trauma or organic disease, it may cause amnesia. Brain damage can lead to loss of memory in the human brain, including brain trauma, epilepsy, brain tumors, cerebral vascular stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. The effect of brain trauma on memory is well known. After the patient's consciousness is restored, it is often impossible to recall the situation before and after the injury. Retrograde amnesia is a side effect associated with sedative and hypnotic effects of drugs. Retrograde forgetting is the inability to memorize information after taking the drug. All sedative and hypnotic drugs have retrograde amnesia side effects, and the degree of forgetting is related to the type of drug and the plasma concentration of the drug, that is, the degree of information received and the degree of forgetting, that is, the higher the drug dose, the higher the blood concentration, the forgetting The more serious it is, the mechanism is that the second-level memory is disturbed.

an examination

Related inspection

Brain CT examination brain MRI examination EEG examination brain nerve examination

Forgotten about the past, new memories can be formed. This type of forgetting may only affect several specific memories in the memory category. For example, a sick pianist still knows what the piano is after the accident, but forgets how to play the piano. In the patient's re-learning phase, the skills acquired before the illness are learned faster than other skills.

EEG and brain CT examinations are required.

Differential diagnosis

Brain organic diseases or brain trauma can cause damage to the brain's memory. This will destroy the process of memory formation, and the new memory will not be consolidated. Things that have just happened will be immediately forgotten.

Forgotten forgetting for some memories before the injury, it is possible to save. This is like a workshop for producing computers. We put the well-produced computers in the warehouse and destroy the existing production lines. Then the production line is gone, forgetting, but the computers placed in the warehouse still exist. Keep this part of the "memory".

In addition, there is another kind of forgetting caused by psychological factors. In rickets and reactive psychosis, complete forgetting of life experience can occur for a period of time, but the memory before and after is good, called stage forgetting. The period of phased forgetting can range from a few days to a few months, occasionally for several years.

Another type of selective forgetting or traumatic situational forgetting means that the patient will forget about the extremely sad things, which is very confusing. If you ask him, he will strongly deny that there has been such a sad thing. This type of amnesia can completely disappear after hypnosis and other psychological treatments. The above-mentioned psychological factors forgotten can be fully recovered. It is caused by temporary inhibition of cerebral cortex function and no organic damage. Forgotten about the past, new memories can be formed.

The material in this site is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments.