In the beginning, when my older son told me that I had suffered a stroke, when I woke up from a week-long coma, confusion set in. I was physically active, had low cholesterol and blood pressure, didn’t smoke or drink alcoholic beverages, and lived a healthy lifestyle. And my genetic history was clean of strokes. And so now it’s not.
Forgetting with brain damage, known as amnesia, is a common fallback of a brain injury, affecting memory for events both before and after the trauma. It can range from obstacles recalling new information (anterograde amnesia) to a hardship to remember past events (retrograde amnesia), with particular impact depending on the location and severity of the brain damage.
(It’s worth noting that the brain has remarkable plasticity, and many people can recover significant function through rehabilitation and therapy, especially with early intervention).
Symptoms often include difficulty with daily tasks, confusion, and impaired learning, but rehabilitation may help many individuals originate strategies and coping to manage their memory problems. Brain damage can affect different types of memory and cognitive functions depending on the location and extent of the injury. Some people may have very noted deficits while others experience extensive cognitive changes.
Short-Term Memory (Happens because the brain struggles to save new memories, even if older ones remain intact)
- Forgetting what they did earlier that day
- Repeating questions or stories
- Misplacing items like keys or phones
- Losing track of time or appointments
- Recent conversations
- What they just read or watched
Prospective or Retrospective Memory (Remembering is crucial for daily functioning and often impaired after stroke or TBI of past or future events)
- Past experiences or events
- Details of family trips, holidays, or childhood events
- Who said what in a past argument or discussion
- Forgetting to take medication
- Walking into a room and forgetting why
- Promising to call someone and forgetting to follow through
- Remembering to complete a task after being interrupted
Procedural Memory (How to make things happen)
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks like driving or using a phone
- Forgetting cooking steps in routines like making tea or coffee
- Steps in a task like blanking out on how to keep sports scores or writing a check
Semantic Memory (Knowledge and facts)
- Forgetting names of objects, people, or places
- Struggling to recall basic facts (e.g., capital cities, historical dates)
- Facts or general knowledge (History, Geography, Vocabulary)
Emotional and Social Memory (Can lead to confusion or split-ups in relationships)
- Forgetting prior conflicts or agreements
- Forgetting past or near emotional experiences or relationships
- Forgetting the “tone” of a conflict
- Difficulty remembering jokes, sarcasm, or subtle cues
- Difficulty interpreting social cues
Names and Faces (Prosopagnosia and Anomia)
- Difficulty in recognizing people they’ve known for years
- Remembering names of friends, relatives, or celebrities
- Matching names with faces in books or magazines
- Finding the correct words for objects they use all the time
Other Cognitive Functions
- Processing speed – Taking longer to understand or respond
- Attention – Staying focused on the task
- Concentration – Keeping your mind on one thing
- Executive functions – Planning, decision-making, problem-solving
- Spatial awareness – Navigation and understanding of physical relationships
(Just so you remember, the acronym spells PACES! That’s another name for “steps”!)
As I have often said, “The problem with remembering events in long-term memory include events you should have forgotten.”
I shudder to think about it. Again, my long-term memory wins.
Dear Joyce, great memory lessons? Thanks for taking us thru the steps and paces… I long for no more anomia or insomnia☺️ thanks for all you and Sara do for us!! Kate