Amnesia is a disorder associated with memory shortage, and it results from psychological trauma, brain disease, and brain damage. Retrograde amnesia refers to a person's inability to recall information that was acquired before a certain period, especially the time of operation or accident. Anterograde amnesia is the incapacity to transfer new data from the short-term store to the long-term place. In the video, Clive Wearing suffers from amnesia, whereby he experiences difficulties of remembering information that he acquired in more than thirty minutes. Consequently, he has a confusing and terrifying experience.
The topic, memory and memory disorders fit in the context of the course material because it explores the manner through which brain damage and brain diseases influence one's memory. The memory disorder is caused by a virus. In the video, Clive Wearing’s amnesia resulted from viral encephalitis. His memory problem began with a headache, and after an MRI scan, it was realized that a large area of his brain tissue was missing with the area being filled with some cerebrospinal fluid. The left side of the brain was the one severely affected. His memory only lasted for 30 minutes, and after that, he would forget everything he heard or seen before.
The Clive Wearing’s semantic and episodic memories seemed to assist him because he managed to retain his love for his wife, Deborah, although he forgot the major part of his life. For his daily living, he kept a diary, which he noted things he came across. For instance, he wrote about his time with his wife whenever the wife visited him and wrote how much he loved her. To remember things, he needed to refer back to his diary at all times. It is evident in the video that Clive Wearing and Deborah, his wife, love each other so much. Even after developing the brain problem, Wearing continued remembering his love for Deborah. The relationship between Wearing and his family seems to be strong because they kept their love even after the sickness. It is not possible for Wearing Clive to live on his own because having lost his memory might make him get more confused and do terrible things.
Due to memory problems, Clive Wearing can only live in the present. The video demonstrates the challenges that Wearing experiences in his life because of memory disorder, such as forgetting what he was doing and not being aware of his capabilities and talents. For example, he could forget having heard music and his talent for playing the piano. In the video, it was possible for me to learn the symptoms of memory disorders, especially amnesia and the process resulting in memory loss (Cermak, 2014). It was also possible to learn the viral infection causing amnesia, like the acute onset Herpes Simplex Encephalitis (HSE), which attacked Wearing. Moreover, the video enabled me to learn the dangers associated with amnesias, such as deaths and the issue of the availability of only a few drugs that manage to treat the disorder.
The knowledge acquired from the video play is closely associated with the textbook readings and course lectures on memory since it was able to prove how patients of memory disorders experience challenges in their lives. It was also possible to understand the impacts of memory disorders in personal diary activities and relationship with other people (Cermak, 2014). The new and interesting information that I learned from the video is that patients of memory disorders, such as Wearing retain implicit memory as intact, like how Wearing's musical skills and intense love for his wife was intact and he perfectly remembered the wife.
Reference
Cermak, L. S. (2014). Human memory and amnesia (PLE: Memory). Psychology Press.
Website
Film:
Clive Wearing: Living without Memory; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipD-G7u2FcM
