What happens when you loose your memory?

Question

so you know how in the movies after a car accident the person looses their memory and forgets everyone and etc. well do they forget their knowledge? how to read and write, add and subtract?

Answer 1

You forget who you are.

Answer 2

The stuff in the movies is not real life. Please don't assume that what happens in movies is what happens in real life!

(And i think you mean "lose" your memory, not "loose" your memory.)

When you lose your memory, you forget things, and many of those things are essential to who you are. In fact, without memory, we would have a very hard time being human. Memory provides continuity throughout our lives, and when we lose it, we just can't remember things that are important to who we are.

When my mother (age 89) started losing her memory (Alzheimer's) I had to watch as she lost her mind and, gradually, everything abut her. One time, just a week or so before she died, I asked if she knew who I was, and she just looked at me as if I were a stranger and said, "No."

Everything in her mind was gone...the mother I knew was gone.

-- Dr. Bob

Answer 3

um...I forgot....

Answer 4

good question

i cant help you but that is a really good question

Answer 5

It depends. Memory loss is due to brain damage. Depending on the nature of the brain damage they can lose the ability to read or write, lose motor skills, lose the ability to recognize faces, or develop all manner of strange problems. This can happen alongside memory loss or without memory loss, and memory loss can happen without any other symptoms. The brain is a complex and subtle thing, and injuries to it are deeply unpredictable.

If you're interested in this subject, I highly recommend books by Oliver Sacks. He's a neurologist who writes books of interesting case studies where people develop all sorts of weird disorders from brain injuries - people who no longer recognize that their leg is theirs, people who lose the ability to form memories, and people who stop being able to distinguish the faces of their loved ones from common objects.

Answer 6

I guess you start all over with people who can train you and maybe specialists who can stimulate different parts of the brain. As brain function improves, the person can do brain games on the computer, crossword puzzles, word searches, sudoku, and other brain-engaging activities.