KC (patient) - Memory Impairment

Memory Impairment

As a result of his neurological damage, K.C. suffered severe cognitive deficits that hindered his ability to form new episodic memories. However, both his semantic memory and noetic consciousness remained unimpaired. To illustrate this, research conducted on K.C. has shown that he is able to recall factual information that he learned prior to his accident, such as his ability to know the difference between stalactites and stalagmites. However, he is unable to remember emotional details of events from his past such as his brother’s death and a dangerous fall he had at his home.

K.C. also suffers from severe impairment of his autonoetic consciousness. This means that he is unable to envision himself in the future. When asked what he would be doing later in a given day, month, or even a year, he was unable to respond with an answer. Just as he cannot remember being physically involved with events from his past, he is unable to imagine future events. Ultimately, he loses any memory of his current actions once his thoughts are directed elsewhere.

Neuropathologically, K.C suffers from both anterograde amnesia and temporally graded retrograde amnesia. Both forms of amnesia are characterized by damage to the medial temporal lobes, specifically within the hippocampal region. The trauma caused by K.C.’s accident has left him with severe anterograde amnesia that has made it impossible for him to remember both new personal experiences and semantic information. As far as his temporally graded retrograde amnesia is concerned, he is considered an anomaly; in other words, his ability to recall events prior to the accident is dependent on when those events occurred. Although he cannot remember personally experienced events, his semantic knowledge prior to his accident remained intact. His recollection of factual information in areas such as math, history and science, for example, were unaffected.