AmnesiaREMEMBER ME?

Psychology Basis

Amnesiamemory loss

Amnesia is the inability to recall information that has been stored in memory. Damage to the hippocampus and thalamus, brain structures that make up the limbic system, may lead to amnesia.

Types of Amnesia

Anterograde Amnesia: occurs through brain trauma, such as a blow to the head. New information is not remembered and anything that may have happened before the trauma is stored in a short-term memory disappear.

Retrograde Amnesia: the opposite of anterograde; anything that took place before the trauma is cannot be recalled.

Transient global Amnesia: temporary loss of all memory. It is hard to form new memories – defined as severe anterograde amnesia. The loss of past memories though is milder and this is a rare from of amnesia.

Traumatic Amnesia: loss of memory is caused by hard blow to the head – may be the result of a car accident. However, most cases with type are temporary, but how long it lasts depends upon the severity of the injury.

Causes

Neurological Brain injury or damage Stroke, inflammation of the brain,

heart attack Prescription drugs or medication

- ex: ambien (zolpidem) Head injuries

- ex: those that occur in car accidents

Pyschological Emotional shock, severe

psychological stress, or internal conflict

Sexual or child abuse- victim of violent crime

Involvement in natural disaster or combat (soldiers)

Remember Me?by Sophie Kinsella

AFTER WAKING UP IN LONDON HOSPITAL, A 28 YEAR OLD WOMAN RECEIVES A BIG SURPRISE… HER TEETH ARE PERFECT, HER BODY TONED, AND HER HANDBAG IS VUITTON. SHE HAS LOST THREE YEARS OF HER LIFE; A HUGE CHUNK OF HER MEMORY.

Characters

Lexi SmartShe may have survived a car accident, but Lexi has lost three years of memory. The year is really 2007, but in Lexi’s mind it is 2004. She’s woken up with a life that does not match the memories she has. What Lexi remembers being working a working girl, low man on the totem pole at Deller Carpets. She’s now has her own office and is the director of flooring at the company.

Eric GardinerEric Gardiner is a handsome, successful multimillionaire. Him and Lexi have been married since 2005, just about two years.

JonJon, the architect for Eric’s company, is the man that Lexi has been having an affair with.

Lexi has lost three years of her memory. Although she’s been a in a coma for just five days, Lexi believes its actually been three years. Doctors, namely the resident neurologist tells Lexi that there is a small amount of swelling around her brain.

In this case the doctor does not specify what type of amnesia Lexi is suffering from. The only thing Lexi is told is that the memory loss she’s suffering from is temporary; she will regain her memory. Although doctor’s did not specify the amnesia, it’s known that during the accident Lexi sustained a head injury. She knocked on the windshield, which would explain the swelling around her brain. What can be identified is that Lexi has traumatic retrograde amnesia. Everything that happened three years prior to her car accident has been lost. What makes this traumatic retrograde is the head injury that Lexi sustained.

Tie In

In this case the doctor does not specify what type of amnesia Lexi is suffering from. The only thing Lexi is told is that the memory loss she’s suffering from is temporary; she will regain her memory. Although doctor’s did not specify the amnesia, it’s known that during the accident Lexi sustained a head injury. She knocked on the windshield, which would explain the swelling around her brain. What can be identified is that Lexi has traumatic retrograde amnesia. Everything that happened three years prior to her car accident has been lost. What makes this traumatic retrograde is the head injury that Lexi sustained.

References

Kinsella, Sophie. Remember Me? New York, NY: Dial, 2008. Print. Nordqvist, Christian. "Amnesia: Caues, Symptoms, and Treatment."

Medical News Today. MNT, 15 July 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9673.php>.