Affiliations: Department of Psychology, Université du
Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada | Neurology Service, Notre-Dame Hospital, Centre
Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), Montréal,
QC, Canada
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Isabelle Rouleau, Department of
Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case
postale 8888, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8 Canada.
Tel.: +1 514 987 3000 ext. 8915; Fax: +1 514 987 8952; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: Organic and psychogenic retrograde amnesia have long been considered
as distinct entities and as such, studied separately. However, patterns of
neuropsychological impairments in organic and psychogenic amnesia can bear
interesting resemblances despite different aetiologies. In this paper, two
cases with profound, selective and permanent retrograde amnesia are presented,
one of an apparent organic origin and the other with an apparent psychogenic
cause. The first case, DD, lost his memory after focal brain injury from a nail
gun to the right temporal lobe. The second case, AC, lost her memory in the
context of intense psychological suffering. In both cases, pre-morbid
autobiographical memory for people, places and events was lost, and no feeling
of familiarity was experienced during relearning. In addition, they both lost
some semantic knowledge acquired prior to the onset of the amnesia. This
contrasts with the preservation of complex motor skills without any awareness
of having learned them. Both DD and AC showed mild deficits on memory tests but
neither presented any anterograde amnesia. The paradox of these cases –
opposite causes yet similar clinical profile – exemplifies the hypothesis
that organic and psychogenic amnesia may be two expressions of the same faulty
mechanism in the neural circuitry.
