Short Description or Definition
Amnestic disorders are defined by a decline in explicit memory in the absence of other significant cognitive impairments and represent a deterioration from previous levels of function. The hallmark feature of classic amnestic disorders is anterograde amnesia (impairment in the ability to form new explicit memories), although retrograde amnesia (inability to remember previously learned information) can be seen, usually in a temporal gradient with recent memories affected more than earlier ones. This entry focuses on persistent, nonprogressive etiologies of amnestic disorders, excluding etiologies such as transient global amnesia, neurodegenerative conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease), and psychogenic amnesias.
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Amnestic disorders can result from a variety of causes, including hypoxic/anoxic events, infections, nutritional deficiencies, and lesions such as those occurring following stroke or surgical ablation, and are associated with damage...
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Springate, B. (2017). Amnestic Disorder. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1105-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1105-2
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