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Patrice Stubblefield
207662565
Psychology 2301
10/31/16
Amnesia
To begin with I will define exactly what amnesia is. Amnesia is the
partial or total loss of memory. There are many different types of amnesia,
but for now I will focus on anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is the
inability to form new memories after a brain injury. This type of amnesia is
presented in a movie called 50 First Dates, starring Adam Sandler and Drew
car accident. In her case she cannot remember the accident and every 24
hours for the rest of her life her short-term memory resets. To be more clear,
shell never be able remember what happened the day before. Later the
movie dives into how to handle her disease, since there is no cure for this. I
agree with the ideas presented in this movie because it will be shown that
stable, but with no improvement and it is unlikely her memories will return.
They also say her temporal lobe is damaged from the car accident. This is
pretty accurate because most amnesia patients suffer from mostly damage
in the hippocampus, but can also suffer from damage in the temporal lobe. I
also agree with how they are handling her particular condition. Most people
might just send her to a facility that could help her, but instead they are
taking care of her and actually giving her a chance to live her life. In the
movie, since her memory resets every 24 hours, when she wakes up there is
a sign for her to watch this tape at the foot of her bed. The tape describes
her condition and her accident and then shows her some memories shes
made after the accident. For example, Lucy and Henry get married and Lucy
gets pregnant and that is shown on the tapes. I really think this is a beautiful
way to handle this because like I stated before, she gets to live her life and
even have kids, which is something most people with her condition wouldnt
However, one thing I do disagree with in the movie is the idea that
Lucy subconsciously remembers Henry, her main love interest. In the movie,
it shows that Lucy will sometimes wake up and paint a portrait of him,
claiming that she saw him in her dreams. This is not the case in the real
world of anterograde amnesia. Another thing that was fictitious in this movie
was the name of her condition. They called her specific type of anterograde
amnesia. Infantile amnesia is the inability to recall events from ones first few
years of life. For example, do you remember when you were born or the first
time you were held? You dont remember this because the hippocampus,
where memories are made, is not yet fully developed yet. I found this
or pre-k and kindergarten, but I dont remember any of it. The oldest
grandfather had dementia and although dementia and amnesia are very
different, he did lose his some of his long-term memories. He was first
diagnosed with Alzheimers when he was 70 years old, which is when we first
started noticing his inability to recall some events in his life. Later, when he
forgetting his grandchildren and great grandchildrens names. Not long after
that, he succumbed to the disease and died. I also found this interesting
because people with anterograde amnesia can live a long life as opposed to
or Alzheimers have degenerative brain cells. This is why this disease can
the hippocampus or temporal lobe, which is where the memory part of the
brain is located.
something that were not accurate. As far as the future for amnesia, some
people have found that things such as hypnosis, psychotherapy and even
patients recover their memories. However, in Lucys case there might never
be a treatment because there are many aspects of the brain that are still a
mystery.