Causes of short-term memory. Memory disorders at different ages, causes of pathology and ways to solve the problem Memory disorder syndromes

Memory is the process of accumulating information, preserving and timely reproducing accumulated experience.

The mechanisms of memory have not been sufficiently studied to date, but many facts have accumulated indicating the existence of short-term memory based on quickly formed temporary connections; and long-term memory, which represents strong connections

Memory disorders conditionally can be divided into quantitative (dysmnesia) and qualitative (paramnesia) disorders, which in a special combination constitute Korsakov's amnestic syndrome.

Dysmnesias include hypermnesia, hypomnesia and various options amnesia.

Hypermnesia- involuntary, somewhat disorderly updating of past experience. An influx of memories about random, unimportant events does not improve the productivity of thinking, but only distracts the patient and prevents him from assimilating new information.

Hypomnesia- general weakening of memory. In this case, as a rule, all its components suffer. The patient has difficulty remembering new names and dates, forgets details of events that took place, and cannot, without a special reminder, reproduce information stored deep in memory. The most common cause of hypomnesia is a wide range of organic (especially vascular) brain diseases, primarily atherosclerosis. However, hypomnesia can also be caused by transient functional mental disorders, for example, a state of fatigue (asthenic syndrome).

The term amnesia combines a number of disorders characterized by the loss (loss) of memory areas. With organic brain damage, this is most often the loss of certain time intervals.

Retrograde amnesia- loss of memories of events that occurred before the onset of the disease (most often acute cerebral catastrophe with loss of consciousness). In most cases, the short period of time immediately preceding the injury or loss of consciousness is lost from memory.

Hysterical amnesia unlike organic diseases, it is completely reversible. Memories lost during hysteria can be easily restored in a state of hypnosis or drug disinhibition.

Congrade amnesia- this is amnesia during the period of switching off from knowledge. It is explained not so much by a disorder of memory function as such, but by the inability to perceive any information, for example, during a coma or stupor.

Anterograde amnesia- loss from memory of events that occurred after the completion of the most acute manifestations of the disease (after restoration of consciousness). At the same time, the patient gives the impression of a person who is completely accessible to contact, answers the questions posed, but later, even in fragments, he cannot reproduce the picture of what happened the day before. The cause of anterograde amnesia is a disorder of consciousness (twilight stupefaction, a special state of consciousness). With Korsakoff's syndrome, anterograde amnesia appears as a consequence

persistent loss of the ability to record events in memory (fixation amnesia).

Fixation amnesia - a sharp decline or complete loss of the ability to retain newly acquired information in memory for a long time. People suffering from fixation amnesia cannot remember anything they just heard, saw or read, but they remember well the events that happened before the onset of the disease and do not lose their professional skills. Fixation amnesia can be an extremely severe variant of hypomnesia at the final stages of chronic vascular lesions of the brain (atherosclerotic dementia). It is also the most important component of Korsakoff's syndrome. In this case, it occurs acutely as a result of sudden brain catastrophes (intoxication, trauma, asphyxia, stroke, etc.).

Progressive amnesia- sequential loss of ever deeper layers from memory as a result of progressive organic disease. The order in which memory reserves are destroyed during progressive processes is described.

According to Ribot's law, the ability to memorize first decreases (hypomnesia), then recent events are forgotten, and later the reproduction of long-ago events is disrupted. This leads to the loss of organized (scientific, abstract) knowledge. Last but not least, emotional impressions and practical automated skills are lost. As the surface layers of memory are destroyed, patients often experience a revival of childhood and youth memories. Progressive amnesia is a manifestation of a wide range of chronic organic progressive diseases: non-insulin course of cerebral atherosclerosis

brain, Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, senile dementia.

Paramnesia is a distortion or perversion of the content of memories. Examples of paramnesia are pseudoreminiscences, confabulations, cryptomnesia, and echonesia.

Pseudo-reminiscences call the replacement of lost memory intervals with events that occurred in reality, but at a different time. Pseudo-reminiscences reflect another pattern of memory destruction: it retains the content of the experience longer (“memory of content”) than the temporal relationships of events (“memory of time”).

Confabulation- this is the replacement of memory lapses with fictitious, never-occurring events. The appearance of confabulation may indicate a violation of criticism and comprehension of the situation, since patients not only do not remember what actually happened, but also do not understand that the events they described could not have happened.

Cryptomnesia- this is a distortion of memory, expressed in the fact that patients appropriate as memories information received from other people, from books, and events that happened in a dream. Less common is the alienation of one’s own memories, when the patient believes that he personally did not participate in the events stored in his memory. Thus, cryptomnesia is not a loss of information itself, but the inability to accurately determine its source. Cryptomnesia can be a manifestation of both organic psychoses and delusional syndromes (paraphrenic and paranoid).

Echomnesia(Pick's reduplicating paramnesia) is expressed in the feeling that something similar to the present has already happened in the past. This feeling is not accompanied by paroxysmal fear and the phenomenon of “insight”, like deja vu. There is no complete identity between the present and the past, but only a feeling of similarity. Sometimes there is a certainty that the event is happening not for the second, but for the third (fourth) time. This symptom is a manifestation of various organic brain diseases with a predominant lesion of the parietotemporal region.

Every day our brain receives great amount various information. Just a couple of decades ago, almost any person could cope with this calmly. But now the volume of incoming data, due to rapid scientific and technological progress, has increased by an order of magnitude. This is not surprising - after all, many devices used in everyday life and always nearby constantly bring us various, continuously updated news - about the weather, about traffic jams, about current news, about received letters or comments in in social networks and so on.

Of course, there are people who deliberately protect themselves from this flow, but this is not always possible, because the density and speed of information transfer in society has also increased significantly. Thus, even without using mobile devices, we are forced to absorb much more different knowledge than our ancestors. Therefore, it is not surprising that our brain sometimes cannot keep up with all this, scattering attention and accumulating fatigue. And, as an inevitable consequence, memories also develop, sometimes weak, and sometimes those that lead to serious problems. Today we will try to understand what memory is and what its disorders are.

According to some estimates human brain capable of storing up to 7 terabytes of information, but this figure may be greatly underestimated.

What is memory?

Memory is the ability to store in the brain certain reflections of objective reality in the form of knowledge and skills.

There is also inconsistency in the available classification options, so we will simplify it a little for understanding. So, according to the duration of memorization, memory can be short-term and long-term. According to the memorization method, there are mechanical and associative memory. In the first case, a person remembers something that is not supported in any way by previous experience (what is already in long-term memory). In the second, we “link” new information to existing information - either similar or radically opposite. The second type of memorization is more reliable - for example, it is easier to remember what happened on some rare holiday than on any ordinary day full of routine. The competent formation of associations underlies the technology of high-quality memorization - mnemonics.

Memory disorders

Now let's talk about memory disorders. They are quantitative (hypomnesia, hypermnesia and amnesia) and qualitative (paramnesia).

Quantitative disorders

Hypomnesia, or weakening of memory, is its most common disorder. A person completely or partially loses the ability to both remember new information and reproduce old memories. Based on the nature of the memory loss, the doctor can guess an approximate cause. For example, with atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels, which affects memory in older people, the greatest difficulties arise when reproducing new, recently received information, while patients can remember events of long ago days very clearly. Hypomnesia, in addition to atherosclerosis, can be a consequence of injury, infectious process, syndrome chronic fatigue, anemia (including alcohol) and many other diseases. Therefore, if your memory begins to deteriorate, it would be a good idea to consult with your doctor. Helps fight hypomnesia intellectual activity- crosswords, mental arithmetic operations, memorizing poems, etc. There are also foods that have a beneficial effect on memory - nuts, blueberries, millet, fish and seafood, sage, etc.

Hypermnesia is an increase in memory. It can be both a marker of emerging disorders of brain functioning and a variant of the norm. Hypermnesia can occur with some mental illness, for example with bipolar affective disorder(the old name is manic-depressive psychosis), during a feverish state during infectious diseases, and even under stress (the notorious “life flashed before your eyes”). Hypermnesia can manifest itself both as an increased ability to remember, and as an influx of memories that previously seemed forgotten. In any case, hypermnesia, if it is not an innate talent, is a very serious reason that requires a visit to the doctor, and immediately to a neurologist or psychiatrist.

Amnesia is a term well known to society. Of course, almost every popular television series has a hero suffering from a similar disorder. As you may have guessed, amnesia is a gap in memory. Most often, it covers a strictly limited period of the patient’s life - for example, the time when the person was in unconscious during fainting. Amnesia can be retrograde (events before a painful state are lost from memory; this type of amnesia is common with), congrade (an event is lost during a painful state; the same injuries, as well as fainting or traumatic situations) or antegrade (the ability to remember new impressions is lost; such happens when there is an injury, infectious process in the brain and a number of other conditions). There are also combinations various types amnesia, for example retroantegrade. Amnesia can also be a consequence of a deterioration in the condition of a patient who previously suffered from hypomnesia. Alas, this often happens with the already mentioned atherosclerosis. Amnesia stands apart early years life, present to one degree or another in everyone, and therefore considered the norm.

Qualitative disorders

Paramnesia is nothing more than a false memory. With paramnesia, the ability to remember and retain information does not change, but the order of information stored in the brain is disrupted.

The most common type of paramnesia is pseudoreminiscence. In this case, a person incorrectly remembers the time of an event stored in memory, despite the fact that he remembers the event itself correctly. This type of paramnesia can be either a variant of the norm or a sign of the onset of a disease. Another name for pseudo-reminiscences is illusions of memory.

Despite all the external similarities, the well-known phenomenon of déjà vu does not relate to memory disorders - mechanisms of perception and processing of information at various levels are involved here

Paramnesia can also occur as a type of confabulation.- when an existing memory lapse (amnesic period) is “filled” with events that never actually happened in the patient’s life. This level of qualitative memory disorder, although deeper than pseudoreminiscences, can still be a variant of the norm. But we must remember that there is quite wide range pathologies in which confabulations are present, ranging from poisoning psychoactive substances and ending with schizophrenia and others.

There is also such a variant of the disorder as cryptomnesia. This is a deception of memory in which someone else’s thought is perceived as one’s own. This happens if the events that contributed to the memorization of someone else’s thoughts were not important for the individual at that moment, but at the same time through long time an urgent task arose that “refreshed” information that was previously considered irrelevant. In this case, someone else’s authorship of a thought is interpreted by the brain as an unimportant detail and is amnesiac. However, cryptomnesia must be distinguished from true conscious plagiarism.

Memory is one of the most important functions of the central nervous system, the ability to postpone, store and reproduce necessary information. Memory impairment can be one of the symptoms of neurological or neuropsychiatric pathology, and may be the only criterion for the disease.

Memory happens short-term And long-term. Short-term memory puts off the information he sees or hears for several minutes, often without understanding the content. Long-term memory analyzes the information received, structures it and puts it aside indefinitely.

The causes of memory impairment in children and adults may be different.

Causes of memory impairment in children : frequent colds, anemia, traumatic brain injury, stressful situations, alcohol consumption, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, congenital mental retardation(for example, with Down syndrome).

Causes of memory impairment in adults :

• Acute disorders cerebral circulation(ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes)
• Chronic cerebrovascular accidents are dyscirculatory encephalopathy, most often a consequence of atherosclerotic vascular damage and hypertension, when the brain chronically lacks oxygen. Discirculatory encephalopathy is one of the most common reasons memory loss in adults.
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Characterized by dysregulation of the cardiovascular, as well as respiratory and digestive systems. May be integral part endocrine disorders. It occurs more often in young people and requires consultation with a neurologist and endocrinologist.
• Stressful situations
• Brain tumors
• Vertebro-basilar insufficiency (deterioration of brain function due to decreased blood flow in the vertebral and basilar arteries)
• Mental illnesses (schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression)
• Alzheimer's disease
• Alcoholism and drug addiction
• Memory impairment due to intoxication and metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders

Memory loss or hypomnesia often combined with the so-called asthenic syndrome, which is characterized by increased fatigue, nervousness, changes blood pressure, headache. Asthenic syndrome usually occurs with hypertension, traumatic brain injury, autonomic dysfunctions and mental illnesses, as well as drug addiction and alcoholism.

At amnesia Some fragments of events fall out of memory. There are several types of amnesia:

1. Retrograde amnesia- memory impairment, in which a fragment of an event that occurred before the injury is lost from memory (more often this occurs after a TBI)
2. Anterograde amnesia- a memory disorder in which a person does not remember the event that occurred after the injury, but the events before the injury are retained in memory. (this also happens after a traumatic brain injury)
3. Fixation amnesia- poor memory for current events
4. Total amnesia- a person does not remember anything, even information about himself is erased.
5. Progressive amnesia- loss of memory that cannot be coped with, from the present to the past (occurs in Alzheimer's disease)

Hypermnesia — memory impairment, in which a person easily remembers a large amount of information for a long time, is considered as a variant of the norm, if there are no other symptoms indicating mental illness(eg epilepsy) or substance use history.

Decreased concentration

Impaired memory and attention also include the inability to focus on specific objects:

1. Attention instability or distractibility, when a person cannot concentrate on the topic under discussion (often combined with memory loss, occurs in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in adolescence, in schizophrenia (hebephrenia - one of the forms of schizophrenia))
2. Rigidity- slowness of switching from one topic to another (observed in patients with epilepsy)
3. Lack of concentration(may be a feature of temperament and behavior)

For all types of memory disorders, it is necessary to consult a general practitioner (neurologist, psychiatrist, neurosurgeon) to diagnose accurate diagnosis. The doctor finds out whether the patient has had a traumatic brain injury, whether memory impairment has been observed for a long time, what diseases the patient suffers from ( hypertonic disease, diabetes), does not use alcohol and drugs.

The doctor may prescribe general analysis blood, analysis of biochemical blood parameters and blood tests for hormones to exclude memory impairment as a consequence of intoxication, metabolic and hormonal disorders; as well as MRI, CT, PET (positron emission tomography), in which you can see a brain tumor, hydrocephalus, and distinguish vascular lesions of the brain from degenerative ones. Ultrasound and duplex scanning vessels of the head and neck, are necessary to assess the condition of the vessels of the head and neck; you can also do a separate MRI of the vessels of the head and neck. An EEG is necessary to diagnose epilepsy.

Treatment of memory disorders

After making a diagnosis, the doctor begins treatment of the underlying disease and correction of cognitive impairment.

Acute (ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke) and chronic (dyscirculatory encephalopathy) cerebral circulatory failure are a consequence cardiovascular diseases, therefore therapy should be aimed at the underlying causes of cerebrovascular insufficiency pathological processes: arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis of the main arteries of the head, heart disease.

The presence of hemodynamically significant atherosclerosis of the main arteries requires the prescription of antiplatelet agents ( acetylsalicylic acid at a dose of 75-300 mg/day, clopidogrel at a dose of 75 mg/day.

The presence of hyperlipidemia (one of the most important indicators hyperlipidemia is high cholesterol), which cannot be corrected by following a diet, requires the prescription of statins (Simvastatin, Atorvastatin).

It is important to combat risk factors for cerebral ischemia: smoking, physical inactivity, diabetes mellitus, obesity.

In the presence of cerebral vascular insufficiency, it is advisable to prescribe drugs that act primarily on small vessels. This is the so-called neuroprotective therapy. Neuroprotective therapy refers to any strategy that protects cells from death due to ischemia (lack of oxygen).

Nootropic drugs are divided into neuroprotective drugs and direct-acting nootropics.

TO neuroprotective drugs include:

1. Phosphodiesterase inhibitors: Eufillin, Pentoxifylline, Vinpocetine, Tanakan. The vasodilating effect of these drugs is due to an increase in smooth muscle cells vascular wall cAMP (a special enzyme), which leads to relaxation and increase in their lumen.
2. Calcium channel blockers: Cinnarizine, Flunarizine, Nimodipine. It has a vasodilating effect by reducing the calcium content inside the smooth muscle cells of the vascular wall.
3. α2-adrenergic receptor blockers: Nicergoline. This drug reverses the vasoconstrictor effect of adrenaline and norepinephrine.
4. Antioxidants — a group of drugs that slow down the processes of so-called oxidation that occur during ischemia (lack of oxygen) of the brain. These drugs include: Mexidol, Emoxipin.

TO direct acting nootropics relate:

1. Neuropeptides. They contain amino acids (proteins) necessary to improve brain function. One of the most used drugs in this group is Cerebrolysin. According to modern concepts, the clinical effect occurs when this drug is administered in a dose of 30-60 ml intravenously per 200 ml of saline; 10-20 infusions are required per course. This group of drugs also includes Cortexin and Actovegin.
2. One of the first drugs to improve memory was Piracetam (Nootropil), which belongs to the group of nootropics that have a direct effect. Increases the resistance of brain tissue to hypoxia (lack of oxygen), improves memory, mood in patients and healthy people due to the normalization of neurotransmitters (biologically active chemical substances, through which nerve impulses are transmitted). IN Lately Prescribing this drug in previously prescribed dosages is considered ineffective; to achieve a clinical effect, a dosage of 4-12 g/day is required, more appropriate intravenous administration 20-60 ml of piracetam per 200 ml of saline, 10-20 infusions are required per course.

Herbal remedies to improve memory

Ginkgo biloba extract (Bilobil, Ginko) is a drug that improves cerebral and peripheral blood circulation

If we are talking about dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, in which there are also disorders of the nervous system caused by insufficient absorption of oxygen by the brain, then nootropic drugs can also be used, as well as, if necessary, sedatives and antidepressants. For arterial hypotension, it is possible to use such herbal preparations as tincture of ginseng, Chinese lemongrass. Physiotherapy and massage are also recommended. In case of dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, consultation with an endocrinologist is also necessary to exclude possible pathology thyroid gland.

Therapy nootropic drugs used for any memory impairment, taking into account the correction of the underlying disease.

Therapist Evgenia Anatolyevna Kuznetsova

Each person has his own talents. Some can easily solve mathematical and logical problems, others are able to create unusual compositions from flowers, and others are able to recite entire works from memory. But none of this would have been possible if a person did not have the ability to remember information. Unfortunately, memory impairment occurs in at different ages, not only in old age, and in the most unforeseen situations. As a result, such disorders lead to a significant deterioration in the quality of life.

Classification of memory disorders in psychology

Most people do not even suspect what an extensive classification of disorders exists in psychology. Initially, there are three main disorders, which then have their own gradation:

• amnesia;
• hypomnesia;
• paramnesia.

Hypomnesia is a decrease in memory functions. This memory impairment may be congenital or acquired as a result of asthenic syndrome, mental pathologies or suffered a complex illness with negative consequences on the brain. As a rule, when eliminating the cause of hypomnesia, namely, primary disease- memory functions are restored. With atherosclerosis in old age, hypomnesia is manifested by the inability to remember current information, but at the same time events from many years ago are stored in memory without changes.

Hypermnesia is the opposite disorder, in which, on the contrary, enhanced memory is observed. It is often congenital in nature, characterized by a painful increase in memory, the ability to store information in significantly greater quantities than is generally accepted. For example, a person with hypermnesia can remember in great detail events that happened to him a long time ago, as well as various dates, names, etc.

Amnesia, the more familiar terminology for many, is characterized by a lack of memory. A person experiences loss of memory of incidents and memories that happened to him before the onset of amnesia. For example, a similar situation can arise as a result of a traumatic brain injury, gas poisoning, after psychosis, etc.

Amnesia in psychology has several subtypes:

• retrograde - a memory disorder characterized by the inability to reproduce information received before the onset of amnesia;
• anterograde amnesia - the inability to reproduce information received after a disturbance of consciousness;
• Anterotograde amnesia involves problems recalling events before and after the disorder.

In addition, against the background of various pathological conditions, memory impairment is distinguished,
like Korsakoff's syndrome. The cause of the syndrome may be prolonged alcoholism, asthenic pathologies, stroke and other diseases. With this syndrome, the ability to remember information deteriorates; for example, the patient cannot remember what he ate at dinner or the names of his closest relatives. There is also inaccuracy in the reproduction of events that occurred in the past.

Paramnesia, a condition in which distorted or false memories. They are divided into confabulations and pseudoreminiscences. In the first case, the gaps in memory are filled with non-existent events. The patient tells fictitious stories, and this happens against the will of the person himself. He is not deliberately trying to deceive his interlocutors; he actually believes his story. Confabulations often occur against the background mental disorders and with alcoholism.

Pseudo-reminiscences are distorted memories. Perhaps in reality, once upon a time, the patient experienced these events or participated in them indirectly or even saw them in a dream. This pathological condition often observed in old age.

What causes violations?

The cause of memory loss and dysfunction can be a large number of different diseases. It is not always the case that a person suffering from amnesia is of old age. The pathological condition can be caused by:

Amnesia and crime

In psychology and forensic practice, there are known cases of a connection between amnesia and the commission of violent crimes. Often, amnesia in these cases is associated with drug or alcohol intoxication at the time of the crime. According to criminologists, in cases of homicide (killing a person), in 25-45% of cases the offender experiences amnesia regarding the crime committed. This memory loss is explained by psychiatrists; there are several options for its occurrence:

• the effects of alcohol or narcotic drugs(the most common option);
• excessive emotional arousal at the time of murder;
• depressed, depressive state criminal, closer to comatose.

Also, scientists in the field of psychology have confirmed the fact that victims of violent crime often experience amnesia for the details of the incident. This fact is explained by the reluctance and psychological impossibility of reproducing a tragic situation in memory, especially in cases where the person not himself suffered in the crime, but also people close to him.

The fact of amnesia does not absolve the accused in legal proceedings. But if the fact is proven that memory loss occurred as a result of a previous serious illness. For example, dementia, schizophrenia or brain damage, this fact may be relevant when considering the offender's inability to participate in legal proceedings.

Treatment of memory disorders

The process of recovering memories and memory in general is very complex. Treatment should be based on eliminating the cause of amnesia. That is, therapy is carried out for the primary disease. During the course of the main treatment, drugs that have a positive effect on brain activity. These medications include:

In addition, a serious approach to the rehabilitation of the patient is required. Required here psychological help and support from relatives. Systematic exercises aimed at developing memory are important, various exercises, logic problems, tests.

Memory impairment is serious problem, both for the patient himself and for his relatives. Patients with amnesia are especially sensitive, since the loss is so important function happened spontaneously, and they feel helpless. They are afraid of reproaches and ridicule, require support from relatives and medical personnel. Therefore, it is very important to be patient and help the patient cope with his problem.

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Memory and memories

Memory disorders
Pathopsychological mnestic disorders underlie many mental illnesses.
There are such memory disorders:
1. Amnesia - a memory disorder in the form of an impairment of the ability to remember, store and reproduce information.
Types of amnesia:
- Retrograde amnesia- memory impairment, in which it is impossible to reproduce information acquired before the episode of impaired consciousness that occurred to the person;
- Anterograde amnesia- difficulties in reproduction relate to the time after an episode of impaired consciousness;
- Anterograde amnesia- memory impairment in which it is impossible to recall information acquired before and after an episode of impaired consciousness.

2. Partial memory impairment (partial memory impairment):
- Hypomnesia- memory loss,
- Hypermnesia- memory enhancement,
arise on the basis emotional disturbances, forming a depressive and manic spectrum of symptoms, respectively.

3. Paramnesia:
- Confabulation- memory deceptions, in which the inability to remember events and reproduce them leads to the reproduction of fictitious events;
- Pseudo-reminiscences- violation of chronology in memory, in which individual events of the past are transferred to the present;
- Cryptomnesia- memory disorders in which a person appropriates other people's thoughts and actions to himself.

Ribot’s law of the formation of mnestic disorders: violation (loss) of memory (as well as its restoration) occurs in chronological order- first, memory is lost for the most complex and recent impressions, then for older ones. Restoration occurs in reverse order.
According to Mr. Connery, memory impairments based on the reasons for their occurrence are divided into:

1. Not caused by obvious physiological reasons- dissociative:
- Dissociative amnesia(inability to remember important events or information related to personal life, usually of an unpleasant nature, that is, people suffer from retrograde amnesia, they rarely have anterograde amnesia);
- Dissociative fugue(a person not only forgets the past, but can also go to an unfamiliar place and imagine himself new personality), usually follows severe stress, such as war or a natural disaster, although it can also be caused by personal stress - financial or legal difficulties or a depressive episode. Fugues affect only memories of one's own past, not universal or abstract knowledge. Most people with dissociative fugue recover their memory completely or almost completely, and there is no relapse;
- Organic dissociative identity disorder (a person has two or more different personalities who cannot always remember each other’s thoughts, feelings and actions).

2. The physiological reasons for their occurrence are obvious - organic. Organic reasons memory impairment can be: traumatic brain injury, organic diseases, misuse medications. Memory impairment caused by physiological reasons - amnestic disorder (mainly affects memory). People with amnestic disorders sometimes have retrograde amnesia, but they almost always have anterograde amnesia.
Anterograde amnesia often results from damage to the brain's temporal lobes or diencephalon, areas that are primarily responsible for converting short-term memory into long-term memory.

Behind severe forms With anterograde amnesia, new acquaintances are forgotten almost instantly, and problems solved today are dealt with the very next day.
Korsakov's amnestic syndrome- people constantly forget information they have just learned (anterograde amnesia), although their general knowledge and intellectual abilities remain unchanged. Characteristic symptoms: confusion, disorientation, tendency to confabulation. Caused by chronic alcoholism in combination with poor nutrition and, as a result, a lack of vitamin B and (thiamine).
Note. In television shows and movies, blows to the head are portrayed as quick way lose memory. In reality, after mild traumatic brain injuries - a concussion, for example, does not lead to loss of consciousness - people rarely have large memory lapses, and those that do appear certainly disappear after a few days or months. Conversely, almost half of all severe traumatic brain injuries are caused by chronic problems with learning and memory both anterograde and retrograde. When memories finally return, the older ones tend to return first.
- Dementia(affect both memory and other cognitive functions, for example, abstract thinking or speech).
The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, which usually affects people over the age of 65. It may first appear in middle age, but it is more common after the age of 65, and its prevalence increases sharply among people aged 80. May last 20 years or more. It begins with minor memory impairment, weakening of attention, speech and communication problems. As symptoms worsen, the person begins to have difficulty completing complex tasks or forgetting important meetings.
Eventually, patients also have difficulty performing simple tasks, they forget about events that are more distant in time; personality changes often become very noticeable in them. For example, a person may become unusually aggressive.
People with Alzheimer's disease may initially deny that they are experiencing any difficulties, but soon become anxious and depressed about their mental state. As dementia progresses, they become less aware of their limitations. In the later stages of the disease, they may refuse to communicate with others, have poor orientation in time and space, often wander aimlessly and lose discretion. Gradually, patients become completely dependent on the people around them. They may lose almost all their previous knowledge and the ability to recognize the faces of even close relatives. Everyone sleeps worse at night and dozes during the day. The last phase of the disorder can last from two to five years, with patients requiring constant care.
Victims of Alzheimer's disease usually remain quite good condition before late stages diseases. But as their mental functions weaken, they become less active and spend most of their time sitting or lying in bed. As a result, they have a tendency to various diseases, for example, to pneumonia, which can result in death.
Majority organic disorders memory affects mainly declarative memory (memory for names, dates, what facts) rather than procedural memory (learned techniques that a person performs without having to think about them: walking, cutting with scissors, or writing).