Basic memory disorders: classification, types of amnesia. Memory impairments at different ages, causes of pathology and ways to solve the problem Memory impairments in psychology

Memory is one of the most important functions in human life. Memory is the ability to store and reproduce memories or abstract information at the right time. Memory plays a crucial role in learning and work skills, and in childhood is involved in the formation of personality.

Memory impairment is a pathological condition that can be a symptom of many diseases. As a result, the patient experiences a disturbance in the perception of reality, expressed to one degree or another.

This symptom can be either constant and persist over a long period of time (or even throughout life), or episodic. Every fourth person has encountered the latter option - to varying degrees and at different periods of life.

Main reasons

The reasons can be very diverse. The most common, according to statistical studies, is asthenic syndrome. This is the name given to a complex of symptoms: psycho-emotional stress, emotional lability, increased anxiety, signs of depression. The second most common reason is the consequences of any disease.

But there are a number of other factors that can lead to memory impairment:

• Other asthenic conditions: stressful situations, overwork.
• Excessive alcohol consumption. Leads to somatic disorders and structural changes in the brain.
• Diseases associated with circulatory pathologies in the brain.
• Head injury.
• Tumors localized in brain tissue.
• Psychiatric pathologies.
• Congenital intellectual disabilities - both genetic and associated with birth injuries.
• Metabolic disease.
• Chronic intoxication (for example, salts of heavy metals)

Accordingly, treatment in each case is specific, and careful diagnosis is required, since there are many reasons.

Signs of the development of memory impairment

They can appear overnight, or they can develop almost imperceptibly. How the disease progresses is important for diagnosis.

By number, the following symptoms are distinguished:

• Amnesia. This is the name of the complete forgetting of the events of any time period. The same term is used to refer to the complete loss of memories.
• Hypermnesia. This is the reverse process - patients note a phenomenal increase in memory, remember all the little things, and can reproduce a large amount of information.
• Hypomnesia. This is a partial loss of memories or partial memory loss.

There are symptoms associated with damage to various memory components:

• Inability to remember events occurring at the present moment in time.
• Difficulties in reproducing events from the past, difficulties in reproducing previously remembered information.

It is interesting that in case of memory disorders, quite often some specific memory objects are deleted:

• Memory of traumatic events, negative situations and events.
• Removing events that compromise a person.

Forgetting that is not associated with specific objects, but is fragmented, can also be observed. In this case, random parts of memories fall out of memory, and it is not possible to find any system.

As for qualitative memory impairment, the symptoms may be as follows:

• Replacing one's own memories with someone else's or one's own, but from a different time period.
• Replacing one's own memories with fictitious ones that never existed in reality and are objectively impossible.
• Replacing one's own memories with situations and facts gleaned from the media, heard somewhere - that is, real, but not belonging to specific people or the patient.

Another unusual disorder involves the perception of real time as something that happened in the past. Since it is extremely important to understand exactly what disorders a patient has, he has to work with a psychiatrist for a long time even in the absence of a mental illness - this is necessary for objective recognition of symptoms and making a correct diagnosis.

Memory impairment in children

In children, diagnosis is even more difficult. This is due to the fact that memory impairments can manifest themselves as a result of congenital diseases or can be acquired during life. There are two main forms of memory loss in children: hypomnesia (problems with remembering and subsequently reproducing information) and amnesia (complete loss of any part of memory). In addition to diseases of the intellectual sphere, mental illness, poisoning, and comatose states can lead to memory impairment in children.

Most often, children are diagnosed with memory impairment due to asthenia or an unfavorable psychological climate. Signs of pathology in this case are a lack of perseverance, problems with fixation of attention, and changes in behavior.

As a rule, children with memory impairments do poorly in school. They often have difficult social adaptation.

Problems with memory in childhood can be associated with visual impairments - after all, a person receives most of the information through vision, and visual perception is very developed in childhood. In this case, the child develops the following symptoms: decreased memory capacity, low speed of memorization, rapid forgetting. This happens due to the fact that images obtained non-visually are practically not emotionally colored. Therefore, such a child will show lower results compared to a sighted child. Adaptation consists of an emphasis on the development of the verbal-logical component, increasing the volume of short-term memory, and developing motor skills.

Memory impairment in old age

Many older people have some degree of memory impairment. First of all, this should be associated with age-related changes in the circulatory system and brain function. The slowdown in metabolism also affects the nervous tissue.

An important cause of disorders is Alzheimer's disease, which manifests itself and actively progresses in adulthood and old age.

According to statistics, at least half (and according to some studies, up to 75%) of older people themselves report some forgetfulness or other memory impairments. Short-term memory is the first to suffer. This leads to a number of unpleasant psychological symptoms, which, unfortunately, are observed in many older people. Among these manifestations: increased anxiety, depression.

Normally, memory function decreases gradually, so even in old age it does not interfere with everyday activities and does not reduce the quality of life. Recent studies show a relationship between a healthy lifestyle in youth, intellectual work (or other mental activity) and the state in old age.

If pathology is noted, memory loss may occur more quickly. In the absence of a correct diagnosis and adequate treatment, the risk of developing dementia is high. This condition is characterized by the loss of everyday skills due to the loss of the ability to remember.

Our doctors

Diagnostics

Diagnosis begins with a careful history taking - this is due to the fact that the most important information about his condition can be provided by the patient himself or his relatives. First, the doctor determines which component of memory is most affected, and then outlines a plan for further examination.

Many specialized tests have been developed and used to differentiate various disorders.

The most commonly used tests are:

• Repeating words immediately after they have been heard allows you to evaluate the functioning of short-term memory. It is clear that a healthy person will be able to repeat all the words.
• Repetition of ten words. The essence of the test is that the doctor voices ten unrelated words. The patient repeats them. This cycle is then repeated with the same words 5 times. Healthy people name at least 4 words the first time, and at the last repetition they can say all of them.
• Pictogram method. The patient is told a few words (usually about 10), and then given time to draw a supporting drawing on paper. Based on the drawing, the patient names the words, and then he is asked to look at the paper and name them after an hour. The norm is to remember at least 90% of words.
• A simple but effective method is to retell a simple plot text from a few sentences. The test has variations - the text is read out by the doctor or the patient himself (this way visual and auditory memory is tested).

No less important are instrumental studies that allow one to assess the functional state of the brain and the state of the circulatory system. Electroencephalography, resonance tomography and computed tomography are actively used.

If there is an assumption that memory impairment appeared as a result of a somatic illness, then diagnostic methods are used aimed at identifying the main diagnosis, and the memory state is monitored during recovery.

Treatment

Treatment tactics depend 100% on the cause. Adequate therapy is selected individually, taking into account the course of the disease and the patient’s condition. Some diseases require lifelong correction.

It is important to seek medical help in time. Many diseases associated with memory loss (as well as others) are better treated in the early stages of development.

As a rule, treatment is aimed at both eliminating the immediate cause of the disease and eliminating symptoms to improve the patient’s quality of life.

You can undergo a full diagnosis using the most modern methods and receive an effective treatment regimen at the multifunctional CELT clinic. Advanced technologies and qualified doctors will help restore lost memory.

To understand memory disorders, you need to become familiar with the basic terminology and mechanisms.

Memory is a mental process responsible for remembering, storing, repeatedly reproducing and erasing information. Information includes skills, knowledge, experience, visual and auditory images - any information that the brain can perceive, down to the thousandth shade of smell.

There are many classifications of memory (sensory, motor, social, spatial, autobiographical). However, clinically the most important classification based on memory time is short-term and long-term.

Physiologically, short-term memory is supported by reverberation of excitation. This is a physiological process in which a nerve impulse circulates through a closed chain of nerve cells. Information is stored as long as the chain is in a state of excitement.

Information moves from short-term memory to long-term memory through consolidation. This is a cascade of biochemical processes during which information is “recorded” into neural networks.

Each person has their own individual memory characteristics from birth. One memorizes the verse after 3-4 readings, the other needs 15 times. An individual low memory score is not considered a violation if it is within the normal range.

Memory disorders are a violation of the processes of remembering, storing, reproducing and forgetting information. Memory is translated from Greek as “mnesis”, therefore all mental pathologies are associated with mnesis: amnesia, hypermnesia or hypomnesia. However, the term amnesia does not identify all memory impairments; amnesia is a special case of memory impairment.

Memory disorders are a frequent companion of mental pathologies. Almost all patients complain of decreased memory, forgetfulness, the inability to remember information and the inability to recognize a previously familiar face or object.

Causes

Painful memory impairments occur due to organic diseases of the brain and mental disorders:

• Organic diseases:
  • Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ;
  • traumatic brain injuries;
  • brain infections: meningitis, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis;
  • brain damage due to alcoholism, drug addiction, metabolic disorders and deficiency of B vitamins;
  • intoxication of the central nervous system with heavy metals and drugs;
  • stroke, transient ischemic attack, hypertension, dyscirculatory encephalopathy, aneurysms and thromboembolic disorders;
  • hydrocephalus, micro- and macrocephaly.
• Mental disorders:
  • schizophrenia;
  • depression;
  • age-related memory impairment;
  • pathological mental states: psychosis, impaired consciousness;
  • impaired mental function;
  • dissociative syndrome.

There are temporary and permanent memory impairments. Temporary arise due to transient mental states. For example, during stress, the ability to remember new information decreases, that is, cognitive memory impairment. When stress passes, memory is restored. Persistent impairment is an irreversible memory impairment in which information is gradually erased forever. This phenomenon is observed, for example, in Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Types and their symptoms

Memory impairments can be quantitative or qualitative.

Quantitative memory impairment is dysmnesia. Dysmnesia is characterized by a decrease in memory reserve, a decrease or increase in the ability to remember new things.

Quantitative violations include:

1. Hypomnesia. The disorder is characterized by a weakening of all memory components. The ability to remember new things decreases: names, faces, skills, things read, seen, heard, dates, events, images. To compensate, people with hypomnesia write down information in a notepad or notes on their phone. Patients with impaired memory lose track of the story in a book or movie. Hypomnesia is characterized by anekphoria - the inability to remember a word, term, date or event without outside help. This is partially a violation of mediated memory, when the fact of mediation is needed to reproduce information.
2. Hypermnesia. This is an increase in memory components: a person remembers much more than necessary. In this case, the conscious component is lost - the person remembers what he does not want to remember. He loses control of his memory. In people with hypermnesia, images of the past, events spontaneously arise, and past experience and knowledge are updated. Excessive detail of information often distracts a person from work or conversation, he is distracted by reliving past experiences.
3. Amnesia. The disorder is characterized by the complete erasure of certain information.

Types of amnesia:

• retrograde amnesia – events preceding the acute period of the disease are erased; for example, the patient forgets several hours of his life before a car accident or several days when he was delirious due to acute meningococcal infection; with retrograde amnesia, the memory component suffers - reproduction;
• anterograde amnesia – events that occurred after the acute period of the disease are erased; two components of memory are violated here - memorization and reproduction; anterograde amnesia occurs in pathologies that are accompanied by impaired consciousness; most often found in the structure of Korsakov's syndrome and in amentia;
• retroanterograde amnesia is a total erasure of events that occurred before and after the acute period of the disease;
• congrade amnesia - erasure of memories during an episode of the acute period of the disease; the components of perception and fixation of information suffer; occurs in diseases that are accompanied by impaired consciousness;
• fixation amnesia is a disorder of short-term memory in which the ability to record current events is impaired; often found in gross organic diseases of the brain; for example, a grandmother comes into the room and asks what to cook for dinner, and her grandson answers her: “Borsch”; after a few seconds, the grandmother asks the same question again; at the same time, long-term memory is preserved - the grandmother remembers events from childhood, youth and adulthood; impairment of working memory is part of the structure of Korsakov's syndrome, a syndrome of progressive amnesia;
• progressive amnesia is a violation of long-term memory according to Ribot’s law: events of long ago, then recent years, are gradually erased from memory, up to the impossibility of reproducing what happened yesterday;
• retarded amnesia is a disorder in which the erasure of events is delayed; for example, a person clearly remembered the events after falling from the roof of a house, but after a few months the memories are repressed;
• affectogenic amnesia - events that were accompanied by unpleasant emotions or severe emotional shock are repressed;
• hysterical amnesia is a disorder of short-term memory in which individual emotionally unpleasant facts are repressed.

Qualitative memory impairments (paramnesia) are false memories, a shift in the chronology of events, or the reproduction of fictitious events.

Memory disorders include:

1. Pseudo-reminiscences. Characterized by faulty memories. The outdated name is illusions of memory. A patient with pseudoreminiscences talks about events that really happened in his life, but in the wrong chronology. The doctor asks the patient when he got to the department. The patient answers: “3 days ago.” However, the medical history notes that the patient has been under treatment for 25 days. This false memory is called pseudo-reminiscence.
2. Cryptomnesia. Memory impairment is characterized by the inability to remember an event in which the source of information is displaced. For example, the patient reads a verse and appropriates it for himself. But in fact, he learned this verse at school, but the patient believes that he is the author of the work.
3. Confabulation. Memory hallucinations are characterized by vivid but false memories that did not actually occur. The patient is convinced of their reliability. The patient may claim that yesterday he had dinner with Elon Musk, and a year ago he met with Angelina Jolie.

Classification of Luria by specificity:

• Modally nonspecific memory impairments occur when the structures responsible for the tone of the cerebral cortex are damaged. It is characterized by a decrease in all components of memory.
• Modality-specific memory impairments occur when local parts of the brain are damaged: the hippocampus, visual or auditory cortex. It is characterized by impaired sensory and tactile memory.

Together with other diseases

Memory disorders are not an isolated disorder. It is always accompanied by other diseases.

Memory impairment in mental and organic diseases:

1. Schizophrenia. Memory is the last process that suffers in schizophrenia.
2. Depression. Hypomnesia occurs.
3. Manic state. Accompanied by hypermnesia.
4. Memory impairment in TBI. The most common is retrograde amnesia.
5. Neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. Accompanied by fixation amnesia, hypomnesia, progressive amnesia, and confabulations.
6. Memory impairment in old age. Accompanied by hypomnesia due to deterioration of blood supply to the brain.
7. Impaired consciousness. With amentia, oneiroid - complete retrograde amnesia. With twilight stupor and alcoholic delirium – partial erasure of memories.
8. Chronic alcoholism. Accompanied by hypomnesia and Korsakoff's syndrome (fixation amnesia, pseudoreminiscences, confabulations, amnestic disorientation, retroanterograde amnesia).
9. Memory impairment in epilepsy. With epilepsy, motivational and emotional attitudes become rigid, and a violation of the motivational component of memory is observed. Characterized by hypomnesia.
10. Transient and neurotic disorders: asthenia, neurasthenia, adaptation disorder. They are characterized by hypomnesia.
11. Memory impairment in residual organics. These are residual effects in the brain after intoxication, traumatic brain injury, birth trauma, or stroke. Dysmnesia and paramnesia are characteristic.

Diagnostics

Memory disorders are examined by a psychiatrist or medical psychologist. Diagnosis of memory disorders is an auxiliary component in the diagnosis of the disease as a whole. Research into memory impairment is not a goal, but a means. Memory diagnostics are needed to establish the presence of a particular disease, its stage and dynamics: dementia, the manic phase of bipolar affective disorder or traumatic brain injury.

Tactics for interacting with patients begin with a clinical conversation. The doctor needs to know whether the patient remembers recent events, whether he considers his memory good, whether he remembers events after the acute period of the illness. To ensure the accuracy of the facts, the doctor may ask relatives or friends.

The doctor then uses memory impairment tests. Most popular:

• “Pictograms” technique;
• “Short-term memory capacity”;
• “Semantic Memory” technique.

Treatment

Memory cannot be treated in isolation. First of all, it is necessary to treat the underlying disease that caused dysmnesia or paramnesia. For example, for vascular dementia, tablets are prescribed that stabilize blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels in the blood. Correction of memory impairment in this case occurs with nootropics.

However, for diseases that are accompanied primarily by memory impairment (Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies), drugs are prescribed to improve cognitive functions, including memory. Drugs: Memantine, Rivastigmine, Donepezil, Galantamine.

Prevention

Some memory pathologies cannot be prevented, for example, confabulation, pseudoreminiscence or Korsakoff's syndrome, since they are part of the structure of serious mental disorders.

However, it is possible to prevent hypomnesia, which affects most people in old age. To do this, you should study poetry, walk new roads, watch new films and remember the names of the characters and the storyline. To prevent memory loss due to hypertension and atherosclerosis, you should limit salt to 5 g per day and exclude flour dishes from the diet. Hypomnesia is prevented by daily physical activity.

There is such a thing as supermemory, when a person is able to remember even the smallest details of what they saw or heard, everything they have ever dealt with.

In serious publications and official reference books, memory is called, first of all, not only a physiological phenomenon, but also a cultural one, the ability to store and accumulate life experience. It is divided into two categories: short-term and long-term, and their ratio varies significantly for each person. For example, if you have long-term memory, then, most likely, memorizing the material will not be easy for you, although years later you will easily reproduce it. If it’s the other way around, then you’ll remember everything you need literally instantly, but after a week you won’t even remember what you once knew.

Causes of memory impairment.

To make it easier to understand, the causes of memory deterioration were divided into several components:

1. Those associated with brain damage, such as traumatic brain injury, brain cancer and stroke;
2. Associated with deterioration in the performance of other equally important organs;
3. Other unfavorable factors, such as sleep disturbances, constant stress, a sudden transition to a different lifestyle, increased stress on the brain, especially memory.
4. Chronic abuse of alcohol, smoking, sedatives and hard drugs.
5. Changes associated with age.

Treatment of memory impairment in adults.

A person lives and does not even think about memory until he is faced with memory deterioration, for example, forgetfulness and poor perception of information, a decrease in the volume of perception. Any minor process can put a dent in your memory.

There are many types of our memory: there are visual, motor, auditory and others. Some people remember well if they hear the material, while others remember it well if they see it. For some it’s easier to write and remember, for others it’s easier to imagine. Our memory is so different.

Our brain is divided into zones, each of which is responsible for some function. For example, for hearing and speech - the temporal regions, for vision and spatial perception - the occipital-parietal, for movements of the hands and speech apparatus - the inferior parietal. There is such a disease - astereognosia, which occurs when the lower parietal region is affected. With its development, a person ceases to sense objects.

It has now been scientifically established that hormones play an important role in the processes of our thinking and memory. Estrogen, testosterone and other components improve learning, assimilation of new material, memory development, while oxytocin acts the opposite.

Diseases leading to memory impairment.

Memory problems arise due to various diseases. For example, most often the culprits are traumatic brain injuries, due to which there are constantly complaints of memory impairment, and this depends on the severity of the injury. Also, with traumatic brain injuries, various types of amnesia occur: retrograde and anterograde. At the same time, the victim does not remember how he received this injury, nor what happened before. It happens that all this is accompanied by hallucinations and confabulations, that is, false memories that are lodged in a person’s brain and were invented by him. That is, for example, when asked what he did the day before yesterday, the patient will say that he was at the opera, walking the dog, but in fact he was in the hospital all this time because he was very sick. Hallucinations are images of something that does not exist.

One of the most common causes of impaired memory functionality is impaired blood circulation in the brain. With vascular atherosclerosis, a decrease in blood flow to all parts of the brain occurs, which is the main provocateur for the development of acute cerebrovascular accident. Any type of stroke develops in areas of the brain, and therefore the blood flow to it completely stops, which greatly impairs their functioning.

Similar symptoms of memory impairment appear in diabetes mellitus, one of the complications of which is damage to blood vessels, their hardening and closure. All these factors subsequently lead to damage not only to the brain, but also to other important organs.

Such very well-known diseases as inflammation of the membranes of the brain - meningitis and inflammation of the brain substance - encephalitis, affect the entire functioning of this organ. And they arise due to damage to the nervous system by various viruses and bacteria. The good news is that these diseases are curable if treated in a timely manner.

True, this cannot be said about diseases that are inherited, one of which is Alzheimer's disease. Most often it occurs in older people and is characterized by a decrease in intelligence and memory loss, up to loss of orientation on the ground. It starts unnoticed, but as soon as you notice that your memory is deteriorating and your attention has begun to decline, consult a doctor, because this could be it. A person does not remember recent events, begins to dream about the past, becomes a difficult and selfish person, and apathy reigns over him. If he is not given the necessary treatment, he will completely lose his bearings, will not recognize his family, and will not even be able to say what the date is today. According to medical research, it has been established that Alzheimer's is mainly inherited. It is not curable, but if the patient is provided with the necessary treatment and care, then its process will proceed without consequences and complications, quietly and smoothly.

Memory can also deteriorate due to thyroid disease, that is, due to a lack of iodine in the body. A person will have a tendency to be overweight, apathy, depressed, irritable and muscle swelling. To avoid this, you need to eat right, consume more iodine-containing foods, seafood, persimmons, seaweed, hard cheese and, of course, dairy products and nuts.

But forgetfulness should not always be equated with memory diseases, because sometimes a person consciously wants and tries to forget the difficult moments of his life, unpleasant and tragic events. This is a kind of human protection, and you should not be afraid of it.

When a person represses unpleasant facts from his memory, this is repression; when he believes that nothing happened, this is denial; and when he takes out his negative emotions on another object, this is substitution, and all these are the basic mechanisms of protecting the human mind. For example, after troubles at work, a husband comes home and takes out his irritability and anger on his beloved wife. Such cases can be considered memory problems only when this happens constantly, day after day. In addition, forgotten negative emotions that you did not express, but suppressed within yourself, will ultimately turn into neurosis and long-term depression.

Treatment of memory impairment.

Before you begin to treat memory impairment, you must first understand what disease caused this process. It is advisable to use medications only as prescribed by a doctor, but not independently.

Physiotherapeutic methods can be used, for example, electrophoresis with the administration of glutamic acid through the nose.

For patients with memory impairment, psychological and pedagogical treatment is also successfully used. The teacher helps and re-teaches the patient to remember, while only healthy areas of the brain participate in the process. For example, if a patient cannot remember phrases spoken out loud, then if he mentally imagines this image, he will be able to remember at least the entire text. True, this is a very long and labor-intensive process, work on oneself, which implies not only memorization with the help of other possibilities, but also bringing this technique to automatism, when the patient no longer thinks about how to do it.

A sharp deterioration in memory is not a disease at all, but a warning symptom that indicates that you have another, more serious disease that should be identified and treated. Moreover, this prevents a person from living a full life and separates him from society, worsens adaptive properties and functions.

If you have been diagnosed with memory impairment, doctors will most likely prescribe you nootropic drugs that you will take. For example, a drug from a new series of drugs belonging to the group of nootropics - Noopept. It contains dipeptides, the most important amino acids for the human body, which, by acting on the neurons of the cerebral cortex, help restore memory and improve concentration. This drug acts on all stages of memory restoration and improvement: initial processing of information, its generalization and retrieval. It also increases the human body’s resistance to damaging factors such as alcohol, drugs, tobacco, head injuries and various injuries.

Which doctor should I contact if my memory deteriorates?

If you notice symptoms of memory impairment in yourself or your loved ones, similar to those described above, then you should contact a neurologist, neuropsychologist or therapist who will conduct special examinations. If you don’t want to wait for the doctor’s verdict, then you can start acting yourself. It has long been known that the main cause of complaints is not memory impairment, but the usual lack of proper attention, when the information conveyed is remembered fleetingly and is not taken seriously. Such manifestations of inattention are usually characteristic of older people, although, of course, they also occur in young people. To overcome this syndrome, you need to constantly work on yourself and train, focusing your attention on important details, writing down events, keeping a diary and learning to do calculations in your head.

This method is very popular and is described verbatim in the book of American professor Lawrence Katz. According to him, these techniques activate the work of all parts of the brain, develop memory, attention and creativity.

Here are some of the exercises described in the book:

1. Habitual tasks should be performed with closed eyes, not with open ones;
2. If you are left-handed, then do all the tasks with your right hand, but if you are right-handed, then vice versa, for example, if you wrote, brushed your teeth, ironed, drew with your left hand, then start doing it with your right, we assure you, you will immediately feel the result;
3. Learn Braille, that is, a reading system for the blind, or learn the basics of sign language - this will be useful to you;
4. Type on the keyboard using all fingers of both hands;
5. Learn some kind of needlework, such as knitting or embroidery;
6. Speak unknown languages ​​and learn them as much as possible;
7. Identify coins by touch and determine their value;
8. Read about things you've never been interested in.
9. Go to new places, institutions, theaters, parks, meet new people, communicate more.

That's basically all you need to know about the insidious memory impairment, treatment and symptoms of this disease. Follow these rules, know how to improve your memory and be healthy!

Symptoms and causes of short-term memory loss

The first symptoms of memory loss

• dementia
• visual impairment
• depression
• loss of muscle coordination

A person with short-term memory loss remembers events from years ago, but cannot recall details of what happened 15 minutes ago.

Progressive memory loss can be a frightening experience. Therefore, it is very important that symptoms of short-term memory loss are recognized early, as they may indicate the presence of a disease in the brain or spinal cord.

Sometimes such memory loss significantly affects daily life and causes problems. The person may become unable to carry out daily activities properly. Memory loss, especially memory loss of recently learned information, is often the first symptom of dementia (the progressive loss of memory and other aspects of thinking) and can worsen over time if not treated promptly. Therefore, everyone should be aware of the symptoms of short-term memory loss and its effects. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can help improve a person's memory.

Anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression can cause chemical imbalances in the brain, which can ultimately seriously affect memory. These conditions often lead to an inability to concentrate. In some cases, a person may not be able to pay attention to what others are saying or focus on his or her work. Therefore, under conditions of stress or confusion, his ability to remember things is significantly negatively affected.

Stroke. This is a very common cause of memory loss in older people. Disruption of blood flow to the brain (even for a few minutes) leads to a stroke. A person can remember events from childhood, but is unable to say what he ate for breakfast.

Mental trauma. The brain naturally tries to block any traumatic experience. The central nervous system tries to remove some painful memories, which can sometimes cause short-term memory loss. As mentioned above, severe stress resulting from emotional trauma can also cause such a disorder.

Brain injury. Any type of brain injury can cause short-term memory loss. Memory usually improves gradually over time.

Substance abuse. This disorder can also be caused by excessive alcohol consumption or the use of drugs such as marijuana. Even excessive smoking, by changing lung capacity, causes the brain to receive less oxygen than required. This can greatly affect a person's memory.

Other common reasons. The human brain and short-term memory can also be affected by: nutritional deficiencies (especially lack of vitamins B 1 and B 12), excessive use of medications (antidepressants, tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, etc.), lack of sleep (insomnia), thyroid dysfunction, Alzheimer's disease, and serious infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, syphilis, etc.

Symptoms associated with memory loss

Dementia. This disorder is progressive in nature and is characterized by inconsistency of thoughts and confusion.

Violation of vision. Visual impairment may not always occur, but is usually seen in cases of brain injury accompanied by memory loss.

Decreased cognitive ability. Cognitive activity (cognition process) is the physiological result of perception, learning and reflection. Dealing with cognitive decline can be a very traumatic symptom.

Violation of muscle coordination. This symptom is most often observed in certain diseases of the brain and spinal cord.

Mind games. There are many brain games and exercises that can improve a person's memory (for example, memorizing a list of things and listing them after a 5-minute break). You should play these games as often as possible.

Medications and psychiatric drugs. There are many different medications that can help improve a person's memory, but they must be taken exactly as recommended by your doctor. These drugs can have a direct effect on the central nervous system, so extreme caution should be used when taking them. A person who experiences short-term memory loss may also suffer from a variety of psychiatric problems. In this case, the medications prescribed may include psychiatric medications.

Diet and exercise. Eating a nutritious diet and regular exercise increases the body's ability to transport oxygen to brain cells, which can help improve brain function.

Symptoms of short-term memory loss can vary from person to person. Memory loss is a condition that requires careful monitoring. In most cases, short-term memory loss is reversible with treatment, but the success rate depends on many different factors, such as the cause of the memory loss, the severity of the accompanying symptoms, the patient's overall response to treatment, the timing of diagnosis, and the type of treatment.

What doctors say about memory loss (video)

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not substitute for advice from a healthcare professional.

Photo: fichemetier.fr, 92newshd.tv, calcagnodds.com

Impaired short-term memory causes

Each person’s ability to remember current events is individual and depends on their state of mind and the content of information. Researchers believe that the so-called short-term memory is responsible for the ability to remember information about current actions. Sudden memory loss can be stressful not only for the person himself, but also for his loved ones. When short-term memory loss occurs without a specific cause, you should consult your doctor immediately.

The more attention a person pays to the process in which he is engaged, the more likely it is that memories of it will be deposited in long-term memory.

At the first signs of a violation of the memory mechanism, it is necessary to give up alcohol and drugs.

Writing down daily activities and events will help you recall a specific period of time in your memory.

Healthy sleep helps cope with memory loss - you need to get at least 8 hours of sleep every day.

Saying phrases out loud helps you remember them faster.

Perhaps the most necessary measure in the fight against memory loss is constant activity of both the body and the brain - proper blood circulation and a healthy lifestyle will prevent irreversible brain damage.

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Memory disorders

Memory impairments are one of the most common disorders that significantly impair a person’s quality of life. There are two main types of them - quantitative disorders, which manifest themselves in the loss, weakening or strengthening of memory traces, and qualitative disorders (paramnesia), expressed in the appearance of false memories, in the confusion of reality, past, present and imaginary.

This symptom manifests itself in the form of the following diseases:

1. Amnesia, which can have various forms, but is generally characterized by loss of memory for various periods of time, loss of various information or skills.
2. Hypomnesia is characterized primarily by a weakening of the ability to reproduce and remember various reference data - names, numbers, terms and titles, i.e. Memory functions are affected unevenly.
3. Hypermnesia is, on the contrary, a pathological exacerbation of memory. Often occurs in manic states and the initial stages of alcohol and drug intoxication.
4. Paramnesias are qualitative disorders; they are quite difficult to clearly classify, since the symptoms are quite complex. With these diseases, what is seen, experienced or told for the first time is perceived by the person as something familiar that has happened to him before. The illusion of recognition also applies to these disorders.

Causes

There are actually a lot of reasons for memory loss. This is an asthenic syndrome - anxiety and depression, alcoholism, dementia, chronic diseases, intoxication, lack of microelements, traumatic brain injuries, as well as age-related changes. Below we will consider the reasons why such disorders may occur in different age groups of patients.

In children

The main causes of disorders in children are congenital mental retardation and acquired conditions, expressed in hypomnesia - deterioration in the process of remembering and reproducing information, or amnesia - loss of individual episodes from memory.

Amnesia in children can be a consequence of trauma, mental illness, coma or poisoning, such as alcohol. However, partial memory impairment in children most often occurs due to the complex influence of several factors, such as an unfavorable psychological climate in the children's group or in the family, asthenic conditions (including due to frequent acute respiratory viral infections), as well as hypovitaminosis.

In adults

There are perhaps more reasons why memory impairment can occur in adults. This includes exposure to stressful situations at work and at home, and the presence of various diseases of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease or encephalitis. Of course, such disorders are caused by alcoholism and drug addiction, mental illnesses - depression, schizophrenia, neuroses.

An important factor that can greatly affect the ability to remember are somatic diseases, during which damage to the blood vessels of the brain occurs and, as a result, cerebral circulation is impaired.

These are diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, thyroid pathology.

In older people

In older people, almost all memory impairments are also associated with deterioration of cerebral circulation due to age-related changes in blood vessels. With age, the normal metabolic process in nerve cells changes. A separate cause of memory impairment in the elderly is Alzheimer's disease.

As a rule, during the natural aging process, memory decline occurs quite slowly. At first, it becomes more difficult to remember the events that just happened. During this period, patients may experience fear, depression, and self-doubt.

One way or another, 50-75% of older people complain of memory impairment. However, as already noted, in most cases this process proceeds slowly and does not lead to serious problems or a significant deterioration in the quality of life. However, the process can also take severe forms when memory begins to rapidly deteriorate. If treatment is not resorted to in this case, then, as a rule, the patient develops senile dementia.

Find out what to do if you suspect Alzheimer's disease. Warning signs and factors for the development of the disease.

Poor memory can also be caused by cerebral ischemia. Read about it here.

Diagnostics

Various diagnostic techniques have been developed to determine whether a person has problems. Although it is necessary to understand that all methods are averages, since people differ greatly in their individual characteristics, and what “normal” memory is is quite difficult to determine. However, below are several methods for checking the memory status.

Diagnostics of visual and auditory memory

To carry out diagnostics, cards are used that depict various objects. A total of 60 cards will be required, which will be used in two series - 30 in each.

Each card from the stack is shown sequentially to the patient at 2-second intervals. After showing all 30 cards, it is necessary to take a break of 10 seconds, after which the patient will repeat the images that he managed to remember. Moreover, the latter can be named in a chaotic order, that is, the sequence is not important. After checking the result, the percentage of correct answers is determined.

Under the same conditions, the patient is shown a second stack of 30 cards. If the results vary greatly, this will indicate unsatisfactory concentration of attention and unstable mnestic function. If during the test an adult correctly names the pictures, then he is considered one hundred percent healthy.

The patient’s auditory memory is tested in a similar way, only the images on the cards are not shown to him, but spoken out loud. A repeat series of words is spoken on another day. One hundred percent result is the correct indication of words.

Memorization method

The subject is read a dozen two-syllable words, the semantic connection between which cannot be established. The doctor repeats this sequence two to four times, after which the subject himself names the words that he can remember. The patient is asked to name the same words again after half an hour. Correct and incorrect responses are recorded and a conclusion is drawn about the patient's level of attention.

There is also a method of memorizing artificial words (for example, roland, whitefish, etc.) that do not carry any semantic load. The patient is read 10 of these simple sound combinations, after which the subject repeats the words that he managed to remember. A healthy patient will be able to reproduce all words without exception after 5-7 repetitions by the doctor.

Prevention

The best prevention of decreased memory ability is a healthy lifestyle. It is also necessary to treat somatic diseases - diabetes, hypertension, etc. - in a timely manner and in strict accordance with medical recommendations. It is important for prevention and adherence to a normal work and rest schedule, sufficient sleep duration - at least 7 hours.

There is no need to get too carried away with all kinds of diets. You need to understand that about 20% of the energy the body receives from food goes precisely to meeting the needs of the brain. Therefore, you need to choose a balanced diet.

Priority should be given to products made from whole grains, vegetables, fatty fish, etc.

It must also be remembered that the body’s water balance also has an extremely negative effect on the nervous system and, accordingly, on the risk of memory impairment. Dehydration should not be allowed; to do this, you need to drink 2 liters of fluid per day.

The main thing is to remember that normal positive communication with friends and relatives, work activity, albeit minimal, and maintaining social activity are the key to maintaining a healthy brain into old age.

The doctor’s story about the problem under consideration in the following video:

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Memory impairment at different ages, causes of pathology and ways to solve the problem

Memory impairment is a pathological condition characterized by the inability to fully remember and use received information. According to statistics, about a quarter of the world's population suffers from memory impairment of varying degrees. The most pronounced and most common problem is faced by older people; they may experience both episodic and permanent memory impairment.

Causes of memory impairment

There are quite a lot of factors and reasons affecting the quality of information assimilation, and they are not always associated with disorders caused by age-related changes. The main reasons include:

• asthenic syndrome. This is the most common cause in people of all ages. Asthenic syndrome is a consequence of overexertion, stress, somatic pathologies, etc.;
• result of intoxication. The ability to perceive information is mainly affected by alcohol. Its toxic substances cause general disorders in the body and directly in the structure of the brain. People suffering from alcoholism often suffer from memory loss and lapses;
• stroke and other pathologies associated with circulatory disorders in the vessels of the brain;
• traumatic brain injuries;
• tumors in brain structures;
• mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. Also congenital mental retardation, one of the options is Down syndrome;
• Alzheimer's disease.

Memory decline in older people

Complete or partial memory loss accompanies 50 to 75% of all older people. The most common cause of this problem is deterioration of blood circulation in the vessels of the brain caused by age-related changes. In addition, in the process of structure, changes affect all structures of the body, including metabolic functions in neurons, on which the ability to perceive information directly depends. Also, memory impairment in old age can be the cause of a serious pathology such as Alzheimer's disease.

Symptoms in older people begin with forgetfulness. Then problems arise with short-term memory, when a person forgets events that just happened to him. Such conditions often lead to depression, fears and self-doubt.

During the normal aging process of the body, even in extreme old age, memory loss does not occur to such an extent that it could affect the normal rhythm. Memory function declines very slowly and does not lead to its complete loss. But in cases where there are pathological abnormalities in the functioning of the brain, older people may suffer from such a problem. In this case, supportive treatment is required, otherwise the condition may develop into senile dementia, as a result of which the patient loses the ability to remember even basic data necessary in everyday life.

It is possible to slow down the process of memory deterioration, but dealing with this issue should begin in advance, long before old age. The main prevention of dementia in old age is considered to be mental work and a healthy lifestyle.

Disorders in children

Not only older people, but also children can face the problem of memory impairment. This may be due to deviations, often mental, that arose in the uterine period. Genetic diseases, in particular Down syndrome, play an important role in congenital memory problems.

In addition to a congenital defect, there may also be acquired disorders. They are caused by:

• skull injuries, more often with this condition amnesia occurs (loss of individual fragments from memory);
• mental illness, very often partial memory loss is observed in children with schizophrenia;
• severe intoxication of the body, including alcohol;
• asthenic conditions, a common cause in children is systematically recurring infectious and viral diseases;
• Vision problems directly affect the deterioration of perception. Since a person receives almost 80% of information through visual perception, if this opportunity is absent and the entire load goes only to auditory memory, the memorization process increases significantly.

Short-term memory problems

Our memory consists of short-term and long-term. Short-term allows us to assimilate the information that we receive at the moment; this process lasts from a few seconds to a day. Short-term memory has a small volume, so over a short period of time, the brain makes a decision to move the received information to long-term storage or erase it as unnecessary.

For example, information about when you cross the road and look around, you see a silver car moving in your direction. This information is important exactly until you cross the road to stop and wait for a car to pass, but after that there is no need for this episode, and the information is erased. Another situation is when you met a person and learned his name and remembered his general appearance. This information will remain in memory for a longer period, for how long it will depend on whether you have to see this person again or not, but it can be retained even after a one-time meeting for years.

Short-term memory is vulnerable and is the first to suffer when pathological conditions develop that can affect it. When it is violated, a person’s learning ability decreases, forgetfulness and the inability to concentrate on a particular object are observed. At the same time, a person can remember well what happened to him a year or even a decade ago, but cannot remember what he did or thought about a couple of minutes ago.

Short-term memory loss is often observed with schizophrenia, senile dementia and with the use of drugs or alcohol. But there may be other causes of this condition, in particular tumors in the brain structures, injuries and even chronic fatigue syndrome.

Symptoms of memory impairment can develop either instantly, for example, after an injury, or arise gradually as a result of schizophrenia or age-related changes.

Memory and schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have a history of many intellectual disabilities. Organic damage to brain structures is absent in schizophrenia, but despite this, dementia develops as the disease progresses, which is accompanied by loss of short-term memory.

In addition, people with schizophrenia have impaired associative memory and the ability to concentrate. It all depends on the form of schizophrenia; in many cases, memory is retained for a long time and its impairment occurs years or even decades later against the background of developing dementia. An interesting fact is that people with schizophrenia have a kind of “double memory”; they may not remember certain memories at all, but despite this they can clearly remember other episodes from life.

Memory and stroke

In the case of a stroke, when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a blood clot, many functions are affected. Often, the consequences of this condition include memory loss and motor and speech disorders. After such a condition, people may remain paralyzed, the right or left side of the body is taken away, facial expressions are distorted due to atrophy of nerve endings, and much more.

Regarding memory, in the first time after a stroke, complete amnesia may be observed for all events that occurred before the onset of the disease. With extensive strokes, total amnesia can be observed, when patients cannot recognize even the people closest to them.

As a rule, despite the seriousness of the pathology, with proper rehabilitation, the patient’s memory in most cases returns, almost completely.

Therapeutic actions

Memory loss or its deterioration is always a secondary process caused by one or another pathological process. Therefore, in order to prescribe appropriate treatment, one must initially identify the cause that led to such consequences and treat it directly. Further memory correction occurs during treatment of the underlying disease. To restore memory functions you need:

• treatment of the primary disease;
• drug therapy to improve brain activity;
• balanced diet;
• rejection of bad habits;
• performing special exercises aimed at developing memory.

As a medical treatment, nootropic drugs are prescribed to improve thinking and brain metabolism. The most common nootropic medication is piracetam. Among herbal remedies, bilobil is used; it indirectly affects metabolism in the brain and, as a rule, is well tolerated.

The diet should be designed in such a way that it contains a sufficient amount of acids, B vitamins, and magnesium.

Note! For any pathological changes, only a doctor should prescribe treatment; uncontrolled use of nootropic drugs can aggravate the situation.

If you want to maintain a good memory for many years and not feel the discomfort associated with excessive forgetfulness even in late old age, it is important to deal with this issue from your youth. By following a healthy lifestyle, watching your diet, getting enough sleep, giving up bad habits and engaging in self-education, you can achieve significant results in improving not only memory, but also thinking, attention and intelligence.

Diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders

Memory is one of the most important functions of the central nervous system, the ability to postpone, store and reproduce necessary information. Memory impairment can be one of the symptoms of neurological or neuropsychiatric pathology, and may be the only criterion for the disease.

Memory can be short-term and long-term. Short-term memory stores information seen and heard for several minutes, often without understanding the content. Long-term memory analyzes received information, structures it and stores it indefinitely.

The causes of memory impairment in children and adults may be different.

Causes of memory impairment in children: frequent colds, anemia, traumatic brain injuries, stressful situations, alcohol consumption, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, congenital mental retardation (for example, Down syndrome).

Causes of memory impairment in adults:

• Acute cerebrovascular accidents (ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes)
• Chronic cerebrovascular accidents are dyscirculatory encephalopathy, most often a consequence of atherosclerotic vascular damage and hypertension, when the brain chronically lacks oxygen. Dyscirculatory encephalopathy is one of the most common causes of memory loss in adults.
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. It is characterized by dysregulation of the cardiovascular, as well as the respiratory and digestive systems. May be part of endocrine disorders. It occurs more often in young people and requires consultation with a neurologist and endocrinologist.
• stressful situations
• Brain tumors
• Vertebro-basilar insufficiency (deterioration of brain function due to decreased blood flow in the vertebral and basilar arteries)
• Mental illnesses (schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression)
• Alzheimer's disease
• Alcoholism and drug addiction
• Memory impairment due to intoxication and metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders

Memory loss or hypomania often combined with the so-called asthenic syndrome, which is characterized by increased fatigue, nervousness, changes in blood pressure, and headaches. Asthenic syndrome usually occurs with hypertension, traumatic brain injury, autonomic dysfunction and mental illness, as well as drug addiction and alcoholism.

At amnesia Some fragments of events fall out of memory. There are several types of amnesia:

1. Retrograde amnesia is a memory disorder in which a fragment of an event that occurred before the injury is lost from memory (more often this occurs after a head injury)
2. Anterograde amnesia is a memory disorder in which a person does not remember an event that occurred after an injury; before the injury, events are retained in memory. (this also happens after a traumatic brain injury)
3. Fixation amnesia - poor memory for current events
4. Total amnesia - a person does not remember anything, even information about himself is erased.
5. Progressive amnesia - loss of memory that cannot be controlled, from the present to the past (occurs in Alzheimer's disease)

Hypermania- memory impairment, in which a person easily remembers a large amount of information for a long time, is considered as a variant of the norm if there are no other symptoms indicating a mental illness (for example, epilepsy) or evidence of substance use.

Decreased concentration

Impaired memory and attention also include the inability to focus on specific objects:

1. Instability of attention or distractibility, when a person cannot concentrate on the topic under discussion (often combined with memory loss, occurs in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in adolescence, in schizophrenia (hebephrenia - one of the forms of schizophrenia))
2. Rigidity - slowness of switching from one topic to another (observed in patients with epilepsy)
3. Lack of concentration (may be a feature of temperament and behavior)

For all types of memory disorders, it is necessary to consult a general practitioner (neurologist, psychiatrist, neurosurgeon) to make an accurate diagnosis. The doctor finds out whether the patient has had a traumatic brain injury, whether memory impairment has been observed for a long time, what diseases the patient suffers from (hypertension, diabetes mellitus), and whether he uses alcohol and drugs.

The doctor may prescribe a complete blood count, analysis of biochemical blood parameters and blood tests for hormones to rule out memory impairment as a result of intoxication, metabolic and hormonal disorders; as well as MRI, CT, PET (positron emission tomography), in which you can see a brain tumor, hydrocephalus, and distinguish vascular lesions of the brain from degenerative ones. Ultrasound and duplex scanning of the vessels of the head and neck are necessary to assess the condition of the vessels of the head and neck; MRI of the vessels of the head and neck can also be done separately. An EEG is necessary to diagnose epilepsy.

Treatment of memory disorders

After making a diagnosis, the doctor begins treatment of the underlying disease and correction of cognitive impairment.

Acute (ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke) and chronic (dyscirculatory encephalopathy) cerebrovascular insufficiency are a consequence of cardiovascular diseases, so therapy should be directed to the pathological processes underlying cerebrovascular insufficiency: arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis of the main arteries of the head, heart disease.

The presence of hemodynamically significant atherosclerosis of the main arteries requires the prescription of antiplatelet agents (acetylsalicylic acid at a dose of 75 mg/day, clopidogrel at a dose of 75 mg/day.

The presence of hyperlipidemia (one of the most important indicators of hyperlipidemia is high cholesterol), which cannot be corrected by diet, requires the prescription of statins (Simvastatin, Atorvastatin).

It is important to combat risk factors for cerebral ischemia: smoking, physical inactivity, diabetes, obesity.

In the presence of cerebral vascular insufficiency, it is advisable to prescribe drugs that act primarily on small vessels. This is the so-called neuroprotective therapy. Neuroprotective therapy refers to any strategy that protects cells from death due to ischemia (lack of oxygen).

Nootropic drugs are divided into neuroprotective drugs and direct-acting nootropics.

Neuroprotective drugs include:

1. Phosphodiesterase inhibitors: Eufillin, Pentoxifylline, Vinpocetine, Tanakan. The vasodilating effect of these drugs is due to an increase in cAMP (a special enzyme) in the smooth muscle cells of the vascular wall, which leads to relaxation and an increase in their lumen.
2. Calcium channel blockers: Cinnarizine, Flunarizine, Nimodipine. It has a vasodilating effect by reducing the calcium content inside the smooth muscle cells of the vascular wall.
3. α 2-adrenergic receptor blockers: Nicergoline. This drug reverses the vasoconstrictor effect of adrenaline and norepinephrine.
4. Antioxidants are a group of drugs that slow down the processes of so-called oxidation that occur during ischemia (lack of oxygen) of the brain. These drugs include: Mexidol, Emoxipin.

Direct acting nootropics include:

1. Neuropeptides. They contain amino acids (proteins) necessary to improve brain function. One of the most used drugs in this group is Cerebrolysin. According to modern concepts, the clinical effect occurs when this drug is administered intravenously in 200 ml of saline solution for a course of infusions. This group of drugs also includes Cortexin and Actovegin.
2. One of the first drugs to improve memory was Piracetam (Nootropil), which belongs to the group of nootropics that have a direct effect. Increases the resistance of brain tissue to hypoxia (lack of oxygen), improves memory, mood in sick and healthy people by normalizing neurotransmitters (biologically active chemicals through which nerve impulses are transmitted). Recently, the administration of this drug in previously prescribed dosages is considered ineffective; to achieve a clinical effect, a dosage of 4-12 g/day is required; it is more appropriate to administer intravenously piracetam per 200 ml of saline solution, for a course of infusions.

Herbal remedies to improve memory

Ginkgo biloba extract (Bilobil, Ginko) is a drug that improves cerebral and peripheral blood circulation

If we are talking about dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, in which there are also disorders of the nervous system caused by insufficient absorption of oxygen by the brain, then nootropic drugs can also be used, as well as, if necessary, sedatives and antidepressants. For arterial hypotension, it is possible to use herbal preparations such as tincture of ginseng and Chinese lemongrass. Physiotherapy and massage are also recommended. In case of dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, consultation with an endocrinologist is also necessary to exclude possible pathology of the thyroid gland.

Therapy with nootropic drugs is used for any memory impairment, taking into account the correction of the underlying disease.

Therapist Evgenia Anatolyevna Kuznetsova

Memory - this type of mental activity with the help of which past experience is reflected. Symptoms of memory disorder. 1) Amnesia - loss of memory, lack of it˸ a) retrograde amnesia- loss of memory for events preceding a disorder of consciousness or a painful mental state can cover a different period of time; b) anterograde amnesia- loss of memory for events that occurred immediately after the end of the state of upset consciousness or painful mental state; the duration in time should also be different; c) a combination of these two types of amnesia is often found, in which case they speak of retroanteragrade amnesia; G) fixation amnesia- loss of ability to remember and record current events; everything that happened at the moment is immediately forgotten; d) progressive amnesia characterized by a gradual weakening of memory, and first of all, the memory for current events, for what happened recently, for the events of recent years weakens and then disappears, while a person can remember the distant past for a long time and quite well. The characteristic sequence of memory decline based on the principle of “memory reversal” is called Ribot’s law. According to this law, the so-called physiological aging of memory also occurs. 2) Paramnesia - erroneous, false, perverse memories. A person can remember events that actually took place, but attribute them to a completely different time. This is called pseudo-reminiscences - false memories˸ a) confabulation- a type of paramnesia in which fictitious memories are completely untrue, when the patient reports something that never really happened. Confabulations often have an element of fantasy; b) cryptomnesia– when a person cannot remember when this or that event happened, in a dream or in reality, whether he wrote this poem or simply remembered something he once read, that is, the source of any information is forgotten; V) eideticism- a phenomenon in which the representation mirrors the perception. Memory is also involved here in its vivid figurative form; an object or phenomenon, after disappearing, retains its living visual image in the human mind. Syndromes of memory disorder˸ 1) Korsakoff's syndrome - a kind of amnestic syndrome. The basis of ᴇᴦο is the inability to remember current events (fixational amnesia) with more or less intact memory for the past. In this regard, a violation of orientation occurs (the so-called amnestic disorientation), another characteristic symptom of this syndrome is paramnesia. Mainly in the form of confabulations or pseudo-reminiscences, but cryptomnesia can also be observed. 2) Organic syndrome (encephalopathic, psychoorganic) consists of the Walter-Bühel triad, which includes: a) emotional lability, emotional incontinence; b) memory disorder; c) decreased intelligence. Patients become helpless, find it difficult to navigate, their will is weakened, their performance decreases, they easily move from tears to a smile and vice versa. Options for psychopathic behavior of organic origin are not uncommon. The following variants (stages) of the psychoorganic syndrome are distinguished (K. Schneider): asthenic, explosive, euphoric, apathetic. Organic syndrome can occur in a variety of diseases with direct damage to the brain (tumors, intracranial infections, trauma, vascular pathology of atherosclerotic, syphilitic and other origin); with somatogenies (as a result of obstruction of the liver, kidneys, lungs, etc.); for alcoholism, drug addiction, substance abuse, poisoning with certain toxic substances; for diseases that occur with atrophic processes in the brain (for example, Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, etc.). Accompanied by a variety of neurological disorders. Psychoorganic syndrome, as a rule, is irreversible, although it may develop somewhat reversely with the use of appropriate therapy, incl. nootropic drugs.

Memory. Main symptoms and syndromes of memory disorders. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Memory. Main symptoms and syndromes of memory disorders." 2015, 2017-2018.

Memory is called one of the highest functions of the human brain. Thanks to the characteristics of the central nervous system (CNS), memory is able to remember and store information from human experience and use it when necessary. One of the most common symptoms of various human brain diseases is memory disorder. About a third of the world's population experiences similar disorders, most often elderly people.

The main problem is that memory impairments are symptoms of a wide range of diseases. And these diseases can affect completely different organs and systems, and are also accompanied by other lesions, for example:

• metabolic disorders;
• dyscirculatory encephalopathy;
• problems of the extrapyramidal system.

If memory impairment is caused by psychogenic diseases, then the likely causes are depression and severe mental disorders.

Depending on the duration of memorization, there are two types of memory: short-term and long-term. Short-term memory is more accurate, but memories are not retained for long, only a few minutes or a couple of hours. Such memory has a limited “capacity”, which is usually equal to approximately seven structural units (for example, visual memories, words, phrases).

This volume can be made larger by increasing the size of the structural units, but this method will not lead to improved memory as such. To transfer information from short-term memory to long-term memory, it will be processed by the central nervous system. The more correct and adequate the memorization strategy is, the more effective this processing is.

Storing information for long-term memory lasts up to 24 hours. At this time, various changes occur in the central nervous system, allowing the stored trace to be preserved for a long time. The “volume” of long-term memory is not limited; information can be stored for a very long time. In long-term memory, the event is stored together with the semantic component, in short-term memory - only the sensory image.

Long-term memory is divided into: procedural and declarative. Procedural memory is responsible for learning and the ability to acquire new skills, and declarative memory is responsible for specific facts.

In addition, it is customary to isolate memory mechanisms. This is the storage of information in memory, its further storage and reproduction. When an impression appears in memory, the central nervous system processes it and then decodes it for further reproduction.

The most serious disorder is Korsakov's syndrome, which manifests itself in disorientation in time, place and environment of the patient. However, intelligence, speech and other higher manifestations of brain activity remain intact or change slightly. As a rule, there are no obvious disturbances in human behavior with Korsakoff syndrome. It is this feature of this that makes it very easy to distinguish it from other diseases (in particular, dementia).

The main cause of memory disorders in people with these syndromes is anterograde and fixation amnesia. Their combination creates a similar adverse effect on a person’s mental abilities. Confabulations and retrograde amnesia have minimal pathogenic effects, unlike fixation amnesia. It is extremely difficult for the patient to remember events that occurred during the period after the illness, but long-ago incidents are remembered relatively easily. Typically, the “volume” of memorized information, various abilities and learning ability are preserved during CS. The patient will be able to retain an amazing amount of information in his memory with the proper level of concentration.

Chronic alcoholism may be the cause of Korsakoff syndrome. In addition, various pathologies of the hippocampus lead to the occurrence of this disorder, as well as an insufficient amount of thiamine in the body or brain damage due to injury or the occurrence of a tumor. Another reason may be poor blood circulation in the brain and, as a result, hypoxia. Therefore, Korsakoff syndrome often occurs in older people.

Dementia as one of the causes of memory impairment

Dementia is a disorder of higher mental functions. This disease greatly complicates the daily life of the patient.

Dementia is usually divided into: subcortical and cortical. During cortical dementia, disorders of consciousness develop, first with forgetfulness of present events. A little later, cognitive impairment is added to the symptoms.

Subcortical dementia leads to a deterioration in a person’s reaction and concentration, the patient quickly gets tired, and manifestations of emotional disorders are characteristic. A patient with a similar disorder has a violation of voluntary and involuntary memorization of information. Semantic memory is preserved, but active recall does not occur. In this case, you can increase memorability and productivity if you memorize information and create logical chains.

Dysfunction of the frontal lobes of the brain also leads to memory disorders in dementia.

These disorders most often occur in people after 55-60 years of age. Senile memory impairment is not dangerous and does not lead to amnesia. Memory deterioration with age is an absolutely normal phenomenon, which is associated with a decrease in the level of reaction and speed.

Other causes of memory problems include:

• liver or kidney failure;
• hypoglycemia;
• intoxication.

To stabilize the condition, memory training is carried out, which can significantly improve attention, reaction, coordination and performance. They also use methods of associative thinking. For example, color associations that match the meaning. Due to this, visual information is remembered much easier and more efficiently. But exercises cannot always be used for Korsakoff syndrome and Alzheimer's type dementia.