Profound amnesia after damage to the medial temporal lobe: A neuroanatomical and neuropsychological profile of patient E.P.

E. P. became profoundly amnesic in 1992 after viral encephalitis, which dam aged his medial temporal lobe bilaterally. Because of the rarity of such pa tients, we have performed a detailed neuroanatomical analysis of E. P.'s le sion using magnetic resonance imaging, and we have assessed his cognitive a bilities with a wide range of neuropsychological tests. Finally, we have co mpared and contrasted the findings for E. P. with the noted amnesic patient H.M, whose surgical lesion is strikingly similar to E. P.'s lesion.