A patient with bilateral hippocampal damage (as in severe HSV encephalitis) will typically show which memory deficit?

• A Inability to form new declarative (episodic and semantic) memories ✓
• B Loss of procedural memory for previously learned skills
• C Loss of short-term working memory but preserved long-term recall
• D Retrograde amnesia only with no anterograde component

Explanation

The hippocampus (part of the limbic system) is essential for the consolidation of declarative (explicit) memory, which includes episodic (personal events) and semantic (factual) memory. Bilateral hippocampal damage causes profound anterograde amnesia — the inability to form new declarative memories — as classically demonstrated by patient H.M. Procedural memory (skills, habits) is mediated by the basal ganglia and cerebellum and is typically preserved. Some retrograde amnesia may coexist but anterograde amnesia is the defining deficit.

Reference: Guyton & Hall, Textbook of Medical Physiology, 14th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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