![]() The fact that developmental amnesia is so rare makes it difficult to study and test interventions in larger groups of people. This finding is encouraging, but further research is needed to understand if recognition memory can support learning in the classroom and over longer delays than one week. ![]() This helped him learn information more efficiently and build a stable memory. Our conclusion was that multiple-choice tests allowed Patient H to use intact parts of his brain’s memory system to process and consolidate information. Crucially, he wasn’t only able to recognise the information but could recall details. Remarkably, he was able to recall twice as much information from the videos he’d been tested on using multiple choice, compared with the first time he was tested – even when he was asked open-ended questions. In fact, he performed as well in the recognition test as children without developmental amnesia.Ī week later, Patient H returned to the lab and was given another memory test based on the videos he’d previously watched. Patient H performed far better in this test, getting 18 out of 20 answers right, compared with only six out of 20 in the first test. This allowed him to use his recognition memory to identify which of the answers felt familiar. Even though he’d watched each video six times, he performed very poorly in the test.įor the other videos, he was given a multiple-choice test. After each watch, he was immediately given a memory test.įor half of the videos, he was asked open-ended questions such as: “Where did the Egyptian nomads live?” This sort of test is very difficult for children with developmental amnesia. Patient H watched four different educational videos six times each. To test this idea, we set up a case study with eight-year-old “Patient H”. We wondered if the ability to recognise familiar things could be key to helping children with developmental amnesia learn. This shows us that some aspects of memory can still function well in children with this condition. While they wouldn’t remember where they’d seen the faces, they’d be able to say a face feels familiar – and correctly judge they’d seen it previously. ![]() So, if you showed someone with developmental amnesia pictures of faces, then later gave them a memory test of those faces, they’d be able to identify the ones they’d seen before. However, one remarkable feature of developmental amnesia is that recognition memory – the ability to recognise something that has been encountered before – is not impaired. When they get home from school, they can’t remember what their lessons involved. If they ask a question in class, they’ll soon forget the answer. As such, treatments for developmental amnesia focus on supporting children to make the most of their abilities.ĭespite this support, children with developmental amnesia are at a considerable disadvantage in school. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to repair the hippocampus once its damaged. Some are also misdiagnosed with attentional problems instead. This means doctors can miss their memory problems and the children don’t get referred to a specialist. So, at first glance, they don’t appear to have a problem. Like Dory from Finding Nemo, children with developmental amnesia have good language skills, motor skills and cognitive abilities. It’s not known how common developmental amnesia is. These memory problems are lifelong and can be very disabling – meaning the children will need support for the rest of their lives.Ĭhildren with the condition have damage to their hippocampus. And third, episodic memory problems or being unable to remember events in their lives. Second, temporal memory problems, including needing to be frequently reminded of regularly scheduled classes or activities. First, spatial memory problems, such as getting lost in familiar surroundings or forgetting where they’d left their belongings. All had suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain in early life, and MRI scans showed all had damage to their hippocampus – the brain’s memory hub.īased on what Vargha-Khadem observed, she outlined three main characteristics of developmental amnesia. But in the late 1990s, Faraneh Vargha-Khadem, a consultant neuropsychologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, identified three teenagers who had been struggling with memory difficulties since they were little. It’s long been known that a lack of oxygen can cause brain damage. Respiratory failure and cardiac arrest after birth are other potential causes. There are a number of reasons this could happen, including a traumatic birth where the baby becomes stuck in the birth canal, unable to breathe. Developmental amnesia is caused by a lack of oxygen reaching the brain.
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