Occurrence of Amnesia. Psychology

Retrograde Amnesia

• Memory for the past (prior to the injury) is lost
• Can be a loss of only minutes or a loss of several years.
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can cause this by disrupting consolidation.

Anterograde Amnesia

• Memory for anything new becomes impossible
• Although old memories may still be retrievable.

Alzheimer's Disease

• The primary memory difficulty here is anterograde amnesia
• Although retrograde amnesia can also occur as the disease progresses.
• It has multiple causes, many of which are not yet identified.
• Various drugs are in use or in development, with hopes of slowing/stopping the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Infantile Amnesia

• Most people cannot remember events that occurred before age 2 or 3.
• It is most likely due to the implicit nature of infant memory.