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From forgetting names to forgetting the reason for entering a room lapses in memory are normal and do not hinder everyday life Problems arise when memory deficits begin to impact ordinary life Amnesia is a memory deficit that can be defined as complete or partial memory loss Ryan et al 2000 often resulting from lesion operations or brain injuries such as strokes Two distinct types of amnesia exist retrograde and anterograde Retrograde amnesia are unable to recall memories of events that occurred before the brain damage They are however able to form new memories following the damage Nadel Moscovitch 1997 The opposite is true for anterograde amnesics Marslen Wilson Teuber 1975 These two types can co occur in one patient or occur individually displaying dissociations between the two Patient HM arguably the most famous amnesic patient had almost complete absence of anterograde memory and partial retrograde loss Scoville Milner 1957 These deficits were caused due to the removal of a large area of his medial temporal brain area as treatment for epilepsy Alongside the establishment of HM s memory deficits two opposing models to explain amnesia emerged
