Acquired amnesia in childhood: a single case study.
We report the case of C.L., an 8-year-old child who, following the surgical removal of an ependymoma from the left cerebral ventricle at the age of 4 years, developed significant difficulties in retaining day-to-day events and information. A thorough neuropsychological analysis documented in C.L. a severe anterograde amnesic syndrome, characterised by normal short-term memory, but poor performance on episodic long-term memory tests. In particular, C.L. demonstrated virtually no ability to recollect new verbal information several minutes after the presentation. As for semantic memory, C.L. demonstrated general semantic competencies, which, depending on the test, ranged from the level of a 6-year-old girl to a level corresponding to her actual chronological age. Finding a patient who, despite being severely impaired in the ability to recollect new episodic memories, still demonstrates at least partially preserved abilities to acquire new semantic knowledge suggests that neural circuits implicated in the memorisation of autobiographical events and factual information do not overlap completely. This case is examined in the light of growing literature concerned with the dissociation between episodic and semantic memory in childhood amnesia.
Vicari
Stefano
S
IRCCS, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, S Marinella, Roma, Italy. vicari@opbg.net
Menghini
Deny
D
Di Paola
Margherita
M
Serra
Laura
L
Donfrancesco
Alberto
A
Fidani
Paola
P
Milano
Giuseppe Maria
GM
Carlesimo
Giovanni Augusto
GA
D020324:Amnesia, Anterograde / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002551:Cerebral Ventricle Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004806:Ependymoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008016:Life Change Events; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012086:Reoperation; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology