Problem: Two main forms of amnesia - Anterograde amnesia: Inability to form new long-term declarative memories after the onset of injury or illness. Working memory and older memories are usually intact; procedural learning (skills, habits) can still improve. Common causes: damage to the hippocampus/medial temporal lobe or diencephalon (e.g., severe TBI, anoxia, encephalitis, Korsakoff syndrome). - Retrograde amnesia: Loss of memories formed before the onset. Usually shows a temporal gradient (Ribot's law): recent episodic memories are affected more than distant ones; semantic knowledge and identity often survive. Causes overlap with those above; extensive "total" retrograde loss is rare and often transient or psychogenic. Accuracy in media - Often inaccurate: Films/TV commonly show complete retrograde amnesia with total identity loss and instant recovery after another "hit," which is not how brain injury works. Recovery, when it happens, is gradual and incomplete. - Closer portrayals: Anterograde cases like Memento and, to a lighter extent, 50 First Dates capture the core problem of forming new memories, though they dramatize severity and stability. "Bourne-style" total identity amnesia is largely unrealistic. Bottom line: The two forms are anterograde (new learning impaired) and retrograde (past memories lost). Media tends to oversimplify and exaggerate, with occasional partial accuracy for anterograde amnesia. Need Assignment Help?