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How Does Leonard Suffer From Anterograde Amnesia

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Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is a type of severe memory impairment that does not give the ability to form new memories, beginning with the onset of a disorder (Kalat, 1998). Anterograde amnesia is a result of brain damage to the hippocampus. In the film Leonard and Sammy have damage to their hippocampus, a part of the brain that is heavily involved in learning and memory (Kalat, 1998). The hippocampus is where new information must pass before being permanently stored in memory. If the hippocampus is damaged, no new information can enter memory, but older information that have already passed through prior to the damage may be safe (Myers, 2006). This fact is clearly depicted in the movie as Leonard forgets people and his conversations with them or when he is doing something and forgets halfway through why he is doing it. This damage to the hippocampus can arise from strokes, brain aneurysms, epilepsy, blows to the head, and various other …show more content…

At the time the physician removed parts of his hippocampus as a way to stop his seizures. HM seizures went away, but he could not form any new memories. However, one form of memory left intact in both HM and Leonard is the ability to learn skills. This ability is known as procedural memory, a memory that is shown by performance rather than by conscious recollection (Kalat, 1998), it allows us to learn how to do things such as ride a bike or play an instrument. The areas of the brain outside of the hippocampus are involved in procedural memory, which is why an injury that results in anterograde amnesia doesn't affect procedural memory. In the movie, Sammy undergoes a shock test several times, in which he receives a small electrical shock when he picks up a certain object. In the film, Sammy again and again picks up the electrified block and is not responding to classical

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