Transient global amnesia and functional retrograde amnesia: contrasting examples of episodic memory loss.

We studied 11 patients with transient global amnesia (TGA) and ten patients with functional retrograde amnesia (FRA). Patients with TGA had a uniform clinical picture: a severe, relatively isolated amnesic syndrome that started suddenly, persisted for 4-12 h, and then gradually improved to essentially normal over the next 12-24 h. During the episode, the patients had severe anterograde amnesia for verbal and non-verbal material and retrograde amnesia that typically covered at least two decades.

Self-ratings of memory dysfunction: different findings in depression and amnesia.

An 18-item self-rating test of memory functions was administered to two patient groups: seven patients with amnesia resulting from Korsakoff's syndrome and six other amnesic patients. These results were compared to results obtained previously for depressed psychiatric inpatients (n = 19) and depressed inpatients prescribed electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) (n = 35). The latter group was tested both before and 1 week after completion of the course of ECT.

Transient global amnesia: characterization of anterograde and retrograde amnesia.

Five patients with transient global amnesia (TGA) were given neuropsychological tests during and after their episode. During TGA, all patients were impaired on tests of new learning ability for both verbal and nonverbal material. Retrograde amnesia was patchy and covered a variable period of time before the onset of the episode: from about 36 hours in one case to 4 years in two cases.

ECT and memory: brief pulse versus sine wave.

The authors evaluated the effects on memory of ECT given with either unilateral or bilateral electrode placement and with brief-pulse or sine-wave stimulus waveform. Clinical criteria determined the mode of ECT and the treatment parameters. As expected, right unilateral ECT produced less memory impairment than bilateral ECT.

Preserved memory in retrograde amnesia: sparing of a recently acquired skill.

Recent work with amnesic patients has revealed a preserved capacity for acquiring and retaining new skills despite otherwise profound anterograde impairment. In addition to their anterograde impairment, amnesic patients also have retrograde memory loss for some information acquired prior to the amnesic event. The present experiment addresses for the first time the question of whether preservation of memory for skills is also a feature memory impairment.