USE OF A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM OF EXTERNAL CUEING TO ENHANCE PROCEDURAL MEMORY IN A PATIENT WITH DENSE AMNESIA

This case study describes rehabilitation efforts with a 24-year-old wo man who exhibited dense amnesia secondary to status epilepticus follow ing a motor vehicle accident. She was 20 months post-injury upon entry into our day treatment programme. The functional severity of her amne sia was reflected in numerous ways, including no recall of what she wo re from day to day and an inability to find the toilet after 2 weeks i n the programme. A multidisciplinary comprehensive programme of extern al cueing was established to exploit her preserved procedural memory. Objective measures of functional compliance were gathered over time an d contrasted with both standard neuropsychological test scores and ear ly levels of functioning in rehabilitation. Results demonstrated enhan ced functioning via utilization of procedural memory. In addition, the patient actually demonstrated increased independent generalization of strategies and techniques over time. Practical treatment implications are reviewed and discussed.