I will never forget Mr. Lopez, he was by far the sweetest and kind man at the nursing home where i was doing my hours. I was so surprised that someone started a conversation with me, he started telling me tales about his childhood and how he came to America, and if anyone knows me well i absolutely love to hear the older generation share their wisdom. He ask me where i was from and continued to tell me his story. Then, after five minutes he asked me where i was from again, puzzled i told him, "Donna"? I didn't think to much of it because i mean, we sometimes forget that when we meet a new person so i just thought he didn't really catch it the first time. Ten minutes later he asked me again, and I just smiled and said, "Donna Mr. Lopez". Ok, by this time I knew something was up, and asked Rene the COTA why he asked me the same question twice, he said he has amnesia and was not able to store new information. "Oooohh!! no wonder he kept asking me for the same thing over and over again", I said. But he seemed so normal, going about his daily therapy treatment, smiling to the staff, and even starting a normal conversation with a total stranger, me! Mr. Lopez was able to familiarize with the rehab staff, since he saw them everyday, and of course his case wasn't so server as Drew Barrymore in the movie 50 First Dates and Rachel McAdams in The Vow. But he did show signs of disorientation of what day it was, the time, and questioned if he had eaten lunch. Anterograde amnesia is a selective memory deficit, resulting from brain injury, in which the individual is severely impaired in learning new information. Memories for events that occurred before the injury may be largely spared, but events that occurred since the injury may be lost. In practice, this means that an individual with amnesia may have good memory for childhood and for the years before the injury, but may remember little or nothing from the years since. Short-term memory is generally spared, which means that the individual may be able to carry on a conversation; but as soon as he is distracted, the memory of the conversation fades.
Usually people with anterograde amnesia lose declarative memory (the recollection of facts), but they retain non-declarative, or procedural, memory (the learning of skills and habits). For instance, they may be able to remember or learn how to do things, such as talking on the phone or riding a bicycle, but they may not remember what they had eaten for lunch earlier that day. This is because procedural memory does not rely on the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe memory system in the same way as declarative memory This type of amnesia us pretty quite phenomenal, I never imaged carrying a conversation with some one with a short term memory lost, but able to recall detail facts of his childhood. It is something worth exposing yourself to, teaches a professional to be compassionate and patient.
You made me remember 50 First Dates! In that movie they also introduce us to 10-second Tom. How odd is it that someone can say "hi, I’m Tom” and literally 10 seconds later, "hi, I’m Tom". In your video about Dory, (I love Finding Nemo!) it is so innocent of her to ask the same questions over and over again and say “sorry, I suffer from short term memory loss.” This is clearly a good example of how some might react when told others have amnesia. I wonder if it is common for people to think “he/she is just messing with me.” Anterograde amnesia has always been a very interesting topic in my opinion. I've always wanted to know more about how this is affected in the brain and the exact place that gets damaged and how it will interfere with your memories. I like how you pointed out that they certainly can learn for example to ride a bicycle but they cannot learn or remember what your name was. It is very curious to see how they remember memories from before the accident such as important memories that are always present, but they do not seem to retain any new information/facts after the accident. It is so interesting to know that they can learn a new ability and still think "I never learned that" yet, they are doing it! The brain is truly magnificent, in these cases it still works as hard as it can to still maintain at a highly functional level. I am excited to learn from others and their stories and how I can help whenever I start in my profession or when I do my hours.
This type of amnesia definitively interesting. I think its strange how remember how to do alot of physical things, but we can't recall when we learned it or any details of it. Do you think its a motor and cognitive thing? or that we did that physical thing so many times that it becomes sort of an instinct for us? it like when we drive a car, after you've been driving for a while you start to to really think about what your doing, you just begin to do it. You even begin to develop certain reflexes that maybe you didnt have before you started to drive. I feel sorry for that old man. Thats a tough thing. I wonder if like dorthy from video, he also recognizes his condition. Like does he know he has amensia? Its interesting because if you have short term memory then how would you remember that you are suffering from short term memory? Just something to think about.
You made me remember 50 First Dates! In that movie they also introduce us to 10-second Tom. How odd is it that someone can say "hi, I’m Tom” and literally 10 seconds later, "hi, I’m Tom". In your video about Dory, (I love Finding Nemo!) it is so innocent of her to ask the same questions over and over again and say “sorry, I suffer from short term memory loss.” This is clearly a good example of how some might react when told others have amnesia. I wonder if it is common for people to think “he/she is just messing with me.” Anterograde amnesia has always been a very interesting topic in my opinion. I've always wanted to know more about how this is affected in the brain and the exact place that gets damaged and how it will interfere with your memories. I like how you pointed out that they certainly can learn for example to ride a bicycle but they cannot learn or remember what your name was. It is very curious to see how they remember memories from before the accident such as important memories that are always present, but they do not seem to retain any new information/facts after the accident. It is so interesting to know that they can learn a new ability and still think "I never learned that" yet, they are doing it! The brain is truly magnificent, in these cases it still works as hard as it can to still maintain at a highly functional level. I am excited to learn from others and their stories and how I can help whenever I start in my profession or when I do my hours.
ReplyDeleteThis type of amnesia definitively interesting. I think its strange how remember how to do alot of physical things, but we can't recall when we learned it or any details of it. Do you think its a motor and cognitive thing? or that we did that physical thing so many times that it becomes sort of an instinct for us? it like when we drive a car, after you've been driving for a while you start to to really think about what your doing, you just begin to do it. You even begin to develop certain reflexes that maybe you didnt have before you started to drive. I feel sorry for that old man. Thats a tough thing. I wonder if like dorthy from video, he also recognizes his condition. Like does he know he has amensia? Its interesting because if you have short term memory then how would you remember that you are suffering from short term memory? Just something to think about.
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