Henry Molaison

Henry Molaison

Henry Gustav Molaison (February 26, 1926 – December 2, 2008), previously known as H.M., was an American memory disorder patient whose hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and amygdala were surgically removed in an attempt to cure his epilepsy. He was widely studied from late 1957 until his death. His case played a very important role in the development of theories that explain the link between brain function and memory, and in the development of cognitive neuropsychology, a branch of psychology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relates to specific psychological processes. Before his death, he resided in a care institute located in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where he was the subject of ongoing investigation. His brain now resides at UC San Diego where it was sliced into histological sections on December 4, 2009.