Originally published in 1982, this book brings together two areas of research previously studied in parallel, with little interaction (particularly in the US): normal memory processing and the amnesic syndrome. When trying to document the relationship between the two it became apparent that there was much crossover and duplication of effort in a number of areas: whether long-term memory and short-term memory truly represent independent storage systems, or are simply points on a continuum; trying to determine the primary locus of variables influencing the rate at which information is lost during retention; whether episodic memory and semantic memory represent two different storage systems, or are simply artifacts produced by different kinds of query to a single memory system and finally, whether visual and verbal memory are independent. It was written, following a meeting in 1979, by a small group of investigators, brought together to explore this commonality and to share data and theory, thus beginning the promise of a bright future of interdisciplinary interaction in memory research.

In this text, Neal J. Cohen and Howard Eichenbaum bring together converging findings from neuropsychology, neuroscience and cognitive science that provide the critical clues and constraints for developing a more comprehensive understanding of memory. Specifically, they offer a cognitive neuroscience theory of memory that accounts for the nature of memory impairment exhibited in human amnesia and animal models of amnesia, that specifies the functional role played by the hippocampal system in memory, and that provides further understanding of the componential structure of memory.

Memory and Amnesia provides a clear and comprehensive account of amnesia set in the context of our understanding of how normal memory operates. Part I provides the reader with an up-to-date survey of contemporary memory theories along with an account of the various methods for improving memory ability. Part II begins with an overview of memory assessment which incorporates all important new developments, and focuses on the nature and explanation of the amnesic syndrome. A new chapter deals with the emerging field of memory disorders linked to frontal lobe dysfunction, related to which is an entirely new approach to the study of age-related memory loss. The account of dementia is extended and includes a discussion of comparisons between different forms of the illness. The chapters on transient amnesic states and on psychogenic states are fully updated (including discussion of the false memory debate), and the significant advances in memory remediation are discussed in the last chapter.

In all cognitive domains, neuropsychological research has advanced through the study of individual patients, and detailed observations and descriptions of their cases have been the backbone of medical and scientific reports for centuries. Cases of Amnesia describes some of the most important single case studies in the history of memory, as well as new case studies of amnesic patients. It highlights the major contribution they make to our understanding of human memory and neuropsychology. Written by world-leading researchers and considering the latest theory and techniques in the field, each case study provides a description of the patient's history, how their memory was assessed and what conclusions can be made in relation to cognitive models of memory. Edited by Sarah E. MacPherson and Sergio Della Sala, Cases of Amnesia is a must read for researchers and clinicians in neuropsychology, cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

Memory. There may be nothing more important to human beings than our ability to enshrine experience and recall it. While philosophers and poets have elevated memory to an almost mystical level, psychologists have struggled to demystify it. Now, according to Daniel Schacter, one of the most distinguished memory researchers, the mysteries of memory are finally yielding to dramatic, even revolutionary, scientific breakthroughs. Schacter explains how and why it may change our understanding of everything from false memory to Alzheimer's disease, from recovered memory to amnesia with fascinating firsthand accounts of patients with striking -- and sometimes bizarre -- amnesias resulting from brain injury or psychological trauma.