An atypical neuropsychological profile of a Korsakoff syndrome patient throughout the follow-up

The basis of amnesia in alcoholic Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) has bee n generally associated with diencephalic lesions and more specifically with lesions of the anterior thalamic nuclei. These brain structures are consid ered to be involved in encoding/consolidation processes of episodic memory. However, frontal lobe damage responsible for executive function deficits h as also been documented. The present report details the nature and extent o f amnesia in an alcoholic patients with WKS and which appears to be mainly due to frontal lobe (executive) deficits. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.