Definition
Memory loss, technically known as amnesia (Greek for loss of memory), is a memory disorder in which memories appear to have been erased from memory. Presumably, this is more likely to be an inability to retrieve memory content. Furthermore, a memory loss can also mean that the person affected is unable to learn new things and to store thoughts.
Forms
There are different forms of memory loss. Depending on the point in time at which the memory loss occurs, it can be divided into retrograde amnesia or anterograde amnesia, which lies ahead (in the future). In retrograde amnesia, the loss of the memory content prior to the damaging event occurs, e.g. after an accident one cannot remember the exact course of the accident.
Anterograde amnesia, on the other hand, is when you cannot remember new information after the triggering event, e.g. you cannot remember what happened immediately after the accident. If both forms occur side by side, one speaks of a transient global amnesia, in which there is a temporary loss of both old and newly stored thoughts. As a special form, there is also a congrade amnesia, in which only the ability to remember the actual cause is missing. Furthermore, infantile (=childhood) amnesia is also described, which means that an adult cannot remember the first years of life. Dissociative amnesia, on the other hand, is the loss of memory of particularly severe psychological stress.
Sudden memory loss
A particularly drastic form of amnesia is when someone suddenly loses their memory out of complete consciousness, i.e. sudden memory loss occurs. In technical terminology this is known as “transient global amnesia” (see above). This means that just as quickly as the memory gap has occurred, it usually disappears again within a day (transient = temporary).
During this time, the affected person has a lack of ability to remember anything, so the short-term memory is limited the most. The same questions are asked again and again, e.g. about space and situation, because the answers are forgotten after a short time. However, long-term memory disorders can also occur, so that after the symptoms have disappeared a permanent memory gap can still remain.
At the same time, abilities are not affected by complex automated action sequences, nor is orientation to the person. Accompanying neurological deficits such as speech disorders or paralysis do not usually occur. A precise cause is unknown, but acute emotional or physical stress is discussed as a possible trigger.
In imaging procedures, changes or reduced supply of areas in the brain that play an important role in learning processes, such as the so-called hippocampus, could be observed afterwards. Sudden memory loss mainly affects people between the ages of 50 and 70, and is usually a one-off event. This sudden memory loss may be very worrying for the person affected and for relatives, but it usually results in a good recovery of memory and no long-term consequences later on.
