Key aspects I considered:
- Address grammar issues
- Incorporate additional information
- Provide a concluding statement
- Arrange the document in a more organized manner
- Revise Citation format
Tania Labra Margarito
English 21003
Professor Zayas
Research Paper - ROUGH DRAFT
May 2, 2023
Amnesia
Amnesia correlates with a form of memory loss. There are many types of amnesia. For instance Retrograde amnesia, Anterograde amnesia, Transient global amnesia, Infantile or childhood amnesia, Dissociative amnesia, Post-traumatic amnesia, Drug-induced amnesia. Meaning a variety of reasons as for what are the causes. Like any part of one's body, one should also look out for their brain. This is an important topic to be informed to society due to helping prevent amnesia or understand the people that are going through this syndrome. Society is misguided overall due to entertainment sources, like television, movies, cartoons and so on. It's exaggerated or creates stereotypes behind amnesia. Hearing and getting informed from real stories from people who have gotten amnesia should enlighten what is still needed to know. Amnesia is deeply interference with the function of the brain, meaning complex details. Where in some cases sensitive fractures and amnesia become permanent rather than temporary like other types of amnesia.
How does the brain hold memory?
The brain is a sensitive organ that allows function to one’s overall body. Connections between the nervous system and the spinal cords all place different abilities in action. All working as a team in the central nervous system. With such results like, “controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger and every process that regulates our body.”(Anatomy of the brain) The brian builds off the use of it. Meaning memories in the making, exercise the brain daily should allow smooth functions. Storing memories works as stated by a Live Science Contributor Stephanie Pappas, “This happens through the actions of synapses, or the tiny gaps between brain cells. Brain cells, or neurons, communicate with each other through an elegant electrochemical system. A change in the electrical charge of one cell triggers the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters across synapses. The neurotransmitters are then taken up by the neuron on the other side of the gap, where they trigger electrical changes in that cell.”(Pappas, 2022) Although many factors can change that role of the brain.
Types of amnesia
Retrograde amnesia, the inability to recall memories from the past. The common and basic idea of amnesia is this one, where one cant remember names, places, habits, skills, from the past. Common misconception with AA, also known as anterograde amnesia. When it becomes difficult to create new memories overall. How it works are the following, “Memory engrams are retained under protein synthesis inhibition-induced retrograde amnesia. These engram cells can be activated by optogenetic stimulation for full-fledged recall, but not by stimulation using natural recall cues (thus, amnesia).” (Roy et al., 2017)Highlighting that these can be caused due to aging, genes, trauma, injury. Furthermore, “ We call this state of engrams “silent engrams” and the cells bearing them “silent engram cells.” The retention of memory information under amnesia suggests that the time-limited protein synthesis following learning is dispensable for memory storage, but may be necessary for effective memory retrieval processes. ”(Roy et al., 2017)Amnesia is completely complicated since it all falls on the responsibility of things naked to the human eye, trying to work all together in the brain.
As mentioned the anterograde amnesia is the opposite direction in memory things, which is that futuristic events will most likely not be stored. The article, “H. M. Word Knowledge, and Aging: Support for a New Theory of Long-Term Retrograde Amnesia” states, “Relations between anterograde amnesia(AA) and retrograde amnesia (RA) have puzzled Neuropsychologists since Ribot(1882). Whereas all amnesia exhibit AA, that is, postmorbid deficits in representing, retrieving or consolidating new information only some amnesics exhibits the poorly understood phenomenon of RA defined here as long term deficits in representing or retrieving information acquired years and sometimes decades before the amnesia causing trauma.” (James & MacKay, 2001)Causes are also due to psychologically abused, meaning something is preventing the adaptation in creating new memories. To understand it better as for why it's important to differentiate the two top common types amnesia is that the “Difference between AA and RA have challenged theories under which the hippocampus encodes and stores concepts and events as they unfold in the fleeting present while simultaneously consolidating thousands and perhaps millions of autobiographical details across the life span. Although some degree of AA invariably accompanies RA(but not vice versa), low correlations between the severity of AA and Ra have been reported and unlike AA, RA os often “patchy” (with “islands” of intact memory for salient episodes), and varies with the particular amnesiac, type of memory, and time since trauma.” (James & MacKay, 2001) Concluding the causes and effects when having anterograde amnesia.
Transient global amnesia, is a short temporary shut down in the brain that can't recall a quick portion of your time. Usually the memory function will restore in 24 hrs but you won't be able to recall recent memory during those shut downs. In the article, “ Transient global amnesia and functional retrograde amnesia: contrasting examples of episodic memory loss” explains, “The patient with TGA has sudden onset of severe memory impairment, including both anterograde and retrograde amnesia, which lasts for at least several hours and resolves gradually over several hours to a day (Fisher & Adams 1964;Kritchevsky 1987). Most episodes last 2-12 h (Caplan 1985; Miller et al. 1987).Clinical examination during TGA suggests a relatively isolated amnesic syndrome (Donaldson 1985; Gordon & Marin 1979; Patten 1971; Shuttleworth & Wise 1973).” (Kazui, 1996)Meaning that the amnesia are caused from episodes, TGA mimics like seizures/TEA, stroke, atypical migraine, head injury, medication side effects, etc. the article is based on a study on “We studied 11 patients with transient global amnesia (TGA) and ten patients with functional retrograde amnesia (FRA).”, concluding, “ Our data indicate that patients with uniform, consistent clinical picture. They relatively isolated amnesic syndrome t suddenly, persists for 4-12 h, and the improves clinically to essentially normal o 12-24 h. During the episode, neuropsychol reveals that the patients have severe antero for verbal and non-verbal mater. ” (Kazui, 1996)Many amnesia are all related to one another but looking at it closer will show the long/short term effects and how common the causes are.
Amnesia also is a common side effect overall to other mental health diseases. For example Alzheimer's, “Brain cell connections and the cells themselves degenerate and die, eventually destroying memory and other important mental functions. Memory loss and confusion are the main symptoms. No cure exists, but medications and management strategies may temporarily improve symptoms.” For example common people affected by this syndrome, where in the brain it affects, negative detailed side effects. The sources I might use are articles, scholarly articles and videos. For example, ( (2019). YouTube. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://youtu.be/uOKm68Q0j68. )
Work Cited
( (2019). YouTube. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://youtu.be/uOKm68Q0j68. )
Anatomy of the brain. Anatomy of the Brain – Health Encyclopedia – University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=85&ContentID=P00773#:~:text=The%20brain%20is%20an%20important,process%20that%20regulates%20our%20body.
James, L. E., & MacKay, D. G. (2001). H.M., word knowledge, and aging: Upport for a new theory of long-term retrograde amnesia. Psychological Science, 12(6), 485–492. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00390
Kazui, H. (1996). Retrograde amnesia during Transient global amnesia. Neurocase, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/neucas/2.2.127-a
Pappas, S. (2022, September 27). How does the Brain Store Memories? LiveScience. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.livescience.com/how-the-brain-stores-memories
Roy, D. S., Muralidhar, S., Smith, L. M., & Tonegawa, S. (2017). Silent memory engrams as the basis for retrograde amnesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(46). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714248114
