TWO FAMOUS AMNESIA CASES
Amnesia is one of the most intriguing themes in popular culture. Movies, books, TV series and music feature stories involving this brain condition that is not still fully understood by scientists. The following are the stories of two people who suddenly, or due to a disease, developed the strangest cases of this condition.
Ansel Bourne was an evangelical preacher from Greene, Rhode Island, who took a trip to visit his sister in Providence on January 17, 1887. However, for unexplained reasons, he ended up taking all his savings from the bank instead and travelling to Norristown, Pennsylvania. While there, he decided to open up a store under the name Albert J. Brown and started a new life. When Bourne woke up on the morning of March 15, he had no idea where he was. He became very confused when residents told him his name was Albert J. Brown. In his mind, it was still January 17 and he had no memory of his previous two months in Norristown. After returning home, Bourne was studied by the Society for Physical Research. Under hypnosis, he assumed the persona of Albert J. Brown. The hypnotised Bourne told a story about Brown that was similar to his own, but said he did not know anyone named Ansel Bourne. It was probably the first documented case of a psychiatric disorder known as the “fugue state”, a dissociative form of amnesia that causes a person to lose their identity for a period of time before their memory suddenly returns. After the hypnosis, Ansel Bourne lived out the rest of his life without incident and never assumed the persona of Albert J. Brown again.
Clive Wearing developed an amnesia that affected his short-term memory span. The infection affected his central nervous system, causing the most damage to the hypothalamus. As a result, he cannot create new memories; actually, his memory span lasts about 20 seconds, meaning that all his life is set in that amount of time. It is like waking up every 20 seconds without knowing what has just happened, and this makes his life quite difficult. According to neurologists and other specialists, Wearing’s case is extremely rare, since he has both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is the loss of previous memories, while anterograde amnesia is the inability to create new ones. However, he can remember certain things from his past, like how to play the piano or being in love with his wife, although he does not really remember marrying her.
8. Answer the following questions.
1. Who was Ansel Bourne?
2. What did Ansel Bourne change during the period of his amnesia?
3. How long did Ansel Bourne’s amnesia last?
4. Did he remember who he really was on the morning of March 15, 1887?
5. How was he helped to assume his original identity again?
6. What caused Wearing’s amnesia?
7. Which part of his brain was mostly damaged?
8. What were the symptoms of Wearing’s amnesia?
9. What kind of amnesia is that?
10. Has Wearing forgotten everything of his previous life?
