ipl-logo

Psychological Causes Of Amnesia Essay

878 Words4 Pages

According to Groome (1999), the causes of amnesia can be of two types which are the physical cause (organic amnesia) and psychological cause (psychogenic amnesia). Organic Amnesia occurs when there are physical damages or injuries to the brain. Some examples of organic amnesia includes Alzheimer disease, Korsakoff’s syndrome (Korsakoff’s amnesia), Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE), temporal lobe surgery, Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other injuries affecting the brain such as stroke, Huntington disease and Parkinson’s disease (Groome, 1999).
Whereas Psychogenic Amnesia is related to psychological aspects such as one’s forgetting of self-identity following from a trauma or tragic experiences. The triggers for physical cause of amnesia includes:
• Stroke
• Encephalitis
• Coeliac disease
• Oxygen deprivation like carbon monoxide poisoning
• Some medications like sleeping pills
• Brain tumor
• Seizures
Where the triggers for psychological cause of amnesia includes:
• Victim of a violent crime
• Victim of child abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Being involved in a natural disaster
• Being present during a terrorist attack
On the other hand, based on findings of Banich and Cohen (2003), they argue that the causes of amnesia are divided into two major types which is the injury to the …show more content…

He also stated that the cells of hippocampus are the brain’s most energy-hungry and fragile and most easily disrupted by anoxia, general aesthetic, toxins and other threats. Hence if the hippocampus is impaired, a person will suffer difficulties in forming new memories. If a person suffers damages to the hippocampus in both halves of the brain, such as result from encephalitis, he or she may develop complete anterograde amnesia, inability to form any new narrative

Show More
Related

  • How Does Leonard Suffer From Anterograde Amnesia

    439 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Psych 101

    1439 Words  | 6 Pages

    Good nutrition can come from supplements such as omega-3s and especially DHA. These supplements can help the hippocampus cells communicate more efficiently. Sleep is important because it allows consolidation of memories and regular functioning of the hippocampus. Without sleep the hippocampus is critically effected. Physical exercise strengthens memories through boosting of the size of the

    Read More

  • Clive Wearing's Amnesia

    635 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine spending time with your loved one and not being able to remember what happened shortly after. Your memories cease to play a role in your life while you’re ability to take in new information is impaired. This is case for Clive Wearing, the person with worst case of amnesia ever recorded. “Each blink, each glance away and back, brought him an entirely new view.” His wife, Deborah and a doctor named Oliver Sacks watch over Clive for twenty years and keep a journal of his progress.

    Read More

  • Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay

    598 Words  | 3 Pages

    • Amnesia must occur, defined as gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events. • The person must be distressed by the disorder or have trouble functioning in one or more major life area because of the

    Read More

  • Endel Tulving: A Brief Summary

    663 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moreover, “a behavioural syndrome results showing not only semantic-memory impairment but also particular difficulty remembering past events as personal happenings” (Tulving, 1989). Lastly, in Endel Tulving’s conclusion to his article he states “traditionally held views about the unity of memory are no longer tenable. A more appropriate view seems to be that of multiple memory systems. Remembering one’s past is a different, perhaps more advanced, achievement of the brain than simply knowing about it” ( Tulving,

    Read More

  • Organic Amnesia Research Paper

    1264 Words  | 6 Pages

    In this essay I am going to look at Psychogenic Amnesia (PA) and Organic Amnesia (OA),

    Read More

  • Infantile Amnesia Research Paper

    437 Words  | 2 Pages

    Earliest Memories and Explanations for Infantile Amnesia Recent research in psychology has explored the various theories about early childhood memories and infantile amnesia, and how these theories could possibly explain why adults have been unable to remember little to nothing before the ages of 3.5 to 4 years. Unlike the name of this phenomenon, infantile amnesia goes beyond the memories of infancy and inhibits the recollection of memories created for the first 2.5 years of life. Although most adults can recall memories for events that have happened during the ages of 3 and 6 years, very little information can be remember in comparison to memories recalled after 6 years (Bjorklund, 2012). According to David F. Bjorklund (2012), infantile amnesia could be attributed to the lack of ability to create autobiographical memories at such a young age.

    Read More

  • Hypnosis And Memory Essay

    459 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is a widely-known popular believe that hypnosis can unlock repressed or hidden memories. With so many television shows and movies suggesting that the use of hypnosis may help a witness to remember the face of a criminal or the exact details of an event, it is no surprise that hypnosis has taken root as a credible method of memory retrieval. As an article from the American Psychological Association states, “… people may believe hypnotically induced memories are more reliable, mirroring a mistaken cultural belief that hypnosis acts like a truth serum. Hypnosis is "on thin ice" when used to recover memories, as is the case with most other memory retrieval techniques” (Smith).

    Read More

  • Biological Basis Of Memory Essay

    1648 Words  | 7 Pages

    The biological approach to the basis of memory is explained in terms of underlying biological factors such as the activity of the nervous system, genetic factors, biochemical and neurochemicals. In general terms memory is our ability to encode, store, retain and recall information and past experiences afterwards in the human brain. In biological terms, memory is the recreation of past experiences by simultaneous activation or firing of neurons. Some of the major biopsychological research questions on memory are what are the biological substrates of memory, where are memories stored in the brain, how are memories assessed during recall and what is the mechanism of forgetting. The two main reasons that gave rise to the interest in biological basis of memory are that researchers became aware of the fact that many memory deficits arise from injuries to the brain.

    Read More

  • Thomas Kuhn's Idea Of Paradigm Shift

    1223 Words  | 5 Pages

    Reid over assessed the human brain, when he tried to explain the concept of memory vanishing through logic. Human consciousness is not something that can be quantified, or explained through logic. There are several inexplicable phenomena that might then seem illogical to Reid. People who have been in accidents, often lose memory of that accident. However, they continue to remain scared of heavy vehicles or crossing roads as pedestrians.

    Read More

  • The Vow Analysis

    1153 Words  | 5 Pages

    Functional or psychogenic amnesia is caused by an emotional shock such as being the victim of a brutal crime, sexual abuse and child abuse. Fundamentally, any unbearable life event that causes extreme psychological stress and internal dispute could be the cause of functional or psychogenic

    Read More

  • False Memory Sociology

    1264 Words  | 6 Pages

    Such studies are relevant to our discussion of false memories, for they demonstrate how even anomalous events can greatly influence one’s recount of a nonexistent

    Read More

  • Repressed Memories: A Literature Review

    624 Words  | 3 Pages

    The research study focused on suppression of visual memories. Researchers first believed that majority of trauma had a visual aspect (University of Cambridge, 2014). That most people who have some type of traumatic experiences like military war or some detrimental close encounter visualizes traumatic experience. That these fortunate circumstances had been imbedded in their psyche and with something so traumatic they will never forget the

    Read More

  • Anterograde Amnesia Analysis

    656 Words  | 3 Pages

    This concept, that when people who have anterograde amnesia are surrounded by people they love they are able to remember better, is something that psychologist have been looking into in more recent years and found

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Amnesia

    167 Words  | 1 Pages

    typically amnesia is that the results of physical trauma and will be a rare, temporary condition; individuals like Doug Bruce with no proof of injury are very rare. Indeed, blackout is often used as a plot device for film or books — it’s an intriguing plan, but one rarely seen in world. Even strange is for the condition to continue as long as it has in Bruce’s case — over two years. it's that a further plausible clarification of his case is that he’s faking it. Despite these limitations, the film is also a desirable exploration of the experience of getting amnesia.

    Read More

More about Psychological Causes Of Amnesia Essay

Open Document