MASSIVE AND PERSISTENT ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA IN THE ABSENCE OF DETECTABLE BRAIN-DAMAGE - ANTEROGRADE PSYCHOGENIC AMNESIA OR GROSS REDUCTION IN SUSTAINED EFFORT
J. Kessler et al., MASSIVE AND PERSISTENT ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA IN THE ABSENCE OF DETECTABLE BRAIN-DAMAGE - ANTEROGRADE PSYCHOGENIC AMNESIA OR GROSS REDUCTION IN SUSTAINED EFFORT, Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section A, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology, 19(4), 1997, pp. 604-614
The case of a young patient with severe and persistent anterograde amn
esia of no known cause is reported. Anterograde amnesia arose within a
1-month period and has persisted for more than 1 year. Although a wid
e variety of neurological and neuroradiological assessments were compl
eted (EEG, evoked potential recordings, Doppler sonography, MRI, PET),
no evidence of brain damage was detected. Neuropsychologically, the p
atient was of high intelligence, had average to above-average short-te
rm memory, and normal retrograde memory abilities, but severe and pers
istent anterograde amnesia in both verbal and nonverbal domains. Furth
ermore, he demonstrated grossly reduced long-term concentration. It is
likely that a complex chain of interacting variables can produce a sy
ndrome that appears phenomenologically as anterograde amnesia without
organically measurable correlates.