![]() ![]() ![]() Real-life amnesia looks different than it does in the movies. These types of memory changes do not actually happen very often in real life. Other times, a character is hit on the head and forgets everything that has happened to them in their life. Some characters in TV shows or movies might wake up one morning and suddenly forget who they are and where they are from. Dory, from Finding Nemo, is one of the most famous examples ( Box 1). The word amnesia is used frequently on TV and in the movies to talk about anyone who has a problem with memory. When people have a very severe problem learning and remembering new information, we say that they have amnesia. But for some people, having a hard time remembering things happens almost all of the time. Have you ever forgotten somebody’s name, even though you just met them? Or have you ever forgotten where you put something in your room? These types of difficulties remembering things are very common: they happen to all healthy people some of the time. ![]() Finally, we will talk about the special people throughout history who have taught scientists the most about what amnesia is, what causes amnesia, and what can be done to help people who have amnesia. We will talk about how amnesia makes it extremely hard to learn and remember some kinds of information (facts, e.g., the rules of a video game), but not other kinds of information (skills, e.g., how to use a joystick). We will talk about how hurting the hippocampus, a special, small part of the brain, can cause real-life amnesia. However, real-life amnesia looks very different from how it appears in movies. Movie makers are trying to show what amnesia, a type of memory loss, is like. In just a couple of minutes, she forgets the things that her friends say to her. She forgets who her family is and what has happened in her life. Poor Dory has a hard time remembering anything. The character Dory from Finding Nemo has a memory problem. ![]()
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