Retrograde Amnesia - Other Forms of Amnesia

Other Forms of Amnesia

Other forms of amnesia exist and may be confused with RA. For instance, anterograde amnesia (AA) is the inability to learn new information. This describes a problem encoding, storing, or retrieving information that can be used in the future. It is important to note that these two conditions can, and often do both occur in the same patient simultaneously, but are otherwise separate forms of amnesia.

RA can also be an inherent aspect of other forms of amnesia, namely transient global amnesia (TGA). TGA is the sudden onset of AA and RA caused by a traumatic event, however it is short lived, typically lasting only 4 to 8 hours. TGA is very difficult to study because of the patients quick recovery. This form of amnesia, like AA, remains distinct from RA.