How can you pretend that you lost your memory. Is it possible to erase from a person's memory. Causes of memory loss

Human memory cannot be represented as some kind of “barn book”, in which everything that a person has ever seen, heard and experienced is recorded once and for all. Memory is a living phenomenon; nerve connections in the cerebral cortex arise and disappear. First of all, those connections that are too rarely activated or not activated at all break down - that is why a person forgets the information that he does not use.

In some cases, forgetting plays the role of a protective mechanism: memory gets rid of traumatic information associated with negative emotions. This is especially often associated with a strong fright, while the consequences of stress in the form of a nervous breakdown remain. So, in the Middle Ages, legends were born about the abduction of people by elves, wood goblins and other fantastic creatures, and now about abduction by aliens.

The problem of artificial forgetting is related to the need to help people suffering from negative memories. To a certain extent, hypnosis provides such an opportunity. In such experiments, people, at the command of a hypnotist, even forgot their own name for several minutes. Some of the results are amazing. For example, one hypnotist made the patient forget about ... allergies. During the next flowering of herbs, this man really did not feel the usual painful symptoms for him. However, the possibilities of hypnosis in this regard are limited: memories do not disappear, but are blocked, and something can bring them back to life. The mentioned patient had an allergy again after talking about it with the doctor.

Memory can be influenced chemically, for example, by blocking the action of the protein kinase enzyme. A group of scientists from the University of California, led by D. Glanzman, proved the possibility of blocking negative memories in this way. True, the object of research was the snail, its nervous system is incomparable with the human one, and no one can say how selective forgetting will be in humans.

Similar "memory pills" that weaken neural connections are also being developed by Russian scientists led by K. Anokhin. This drug is supposed to be used against the background of the patient's active recall of those episodes that he would like to forget. But we are not talking about practical application yet. According to K. Anokhin, "brain chemistry is much easier to break than to improve."

Genuine memories can be partially blocked by the creation of false ones. To do this, it is enough to give the installation. For example, in one experiment, subjects were asked if they had met Bunny the Rabbit at Disneyland. People remembered such a meeting, despite the fact that this character is not in Disneyland. Sometimes the setting is given by the prevailing moods in society. For example, in the 70s. 20th century many American women "remembered" sexual abuse by their father, uncle, or older brother, allegedly taking place in childhood. It is also possible to deliberately introduce false memories to a specific person, especially if he is distinguished by increased suggestibility.

In general, scientists are reserved about the idea of ​​selective memory erasure. Even if this becomes technically possible in the future, no one can say how the forgetting of negative episodes from the past will affect the patient's memory and his mental life as a whole.

Every person has memories that he would like to completely get rid of. And there are those who believe that the past seriously complicates their life, which they dream of starting from a completely empty slate. And therefore, many are extremely interested in the question of how to lose memory at will. And is it even possible.

How to lose memory on purpose and permanently?

The human brain is a very complex system, and scientists have not yet fully figured out how the process of memorization occurs, and why, quickly forgetting some things, we continue to remember others for a very long time. Consequently, the methods for solving the problem of how memory can be lost are characterized as poorly predictable. They can work only under certain circumstances, and whether the desired result will be achieved is impossible to predict.

Complete and prolonged amnesia can be caused by:

• some drugs, in particular tranquilizers and antidepressants, so you can get them only by prescription, you need to take them in such a way as to cause a noticeable overdose, and this can even lead to death;
• mechanical trauma to the head - it is also unlikely that it will be possible to correctly calculate the force of impact and apply it purposefully;
• the use of alcohol and drug-containing substances, mushrooms with hallucinogenic properties, poisonous plants, but this can lead not to memory loss, but to food poisoning, atrophy of internal organs and disability.

Those who are looking for an answer to the question of how to lose their memory forever can be advised to contact a hypnosis specialist. This is perhaps the safest way to lose unpleasant memories for a long time.

How to lose memory for a while?

If you just want to distance yourself from some events in the past for a while, then you should try to distract yourself from them. To do this, you need to stop thinking about them, constantly scroll through your head. You should saturate your life with new impressions and vivid emotions, meet more friends, have fun. Also, experts say that violent sex helps to forget well - after an orgasm, short-term memory loss may occur.

You can turn to God for help, there are cases when miraculous icons and proper prayer helped to get rid of the oppression of the past and unpleasant memories. If possible, you should visit some remote monastery or go on a pilgrimage to holy places.

1. Retrograde amnesia - the patient does not remember the events that took place before the onset of amnesia.

if you lose it is better forever. hitting your head might help

go on a long binge

See why... Perhaps only part of the memory? Just don’t go into yourself, no depression! Hit the wedge with a wedge!

Memory is mostly lost after a severe head injury.

You can break into a cake, but no one will predict the consequences.

So it happens to choose something one or forever.

I don't know. I remember about

Heh, a classmate banged her head against the wall for a long time. Came with 3 bumps. but haven't forgotten.

How to lose memory?

Every person has memories that he would like to completely get rid of. And there are those who believe that the past seriously complicates their life, which they dream of starting from a completely empty slate. And therefore, many are extremely interested in the question of how to lose memory at will. And is it even possible.

How to lose memory on purpose and permanently?

The human brain is a very complex system, and scientists have not yet fully figured out how the process of memorization occurs, and why, quickly forgetting some things, we continue to remember others for a very long time. Consequently, the methods for solving the problem of how memory can be lost are characterized as poorly predictable. They can work only under certain circumstances, and whether the desired result will be achieved is impossible to predict.

Complete and prolonged amnesia can be caused by:

• some drugs, in particular tranquilizers and antidepressants, so you can get them only by prescription, you need to take them in such a way as to cause a noticeable overdose, and this can even lead to death;
• mechanical trauma to the head - it is also unlikely that it will be possible to correctly calculate the force of impact and apply it purposefully;
• the use of alcohol and drug-containing substances, mushrooms with hallucinogenic properties, poisonous plants, but this can lead not to memory loss, but to food poisoning, atrophy of internal organs and disability.

Those who are looking for an answer to the question of how to lose their memory forever can be advised to contact a hypnosis specialist. This is perhaps the safest way to lose unpleasant memories for a long time.

How to lose memory for a while?

If you just want to isolate yourself from some events in the past for a while, then you should try to distract yourself from them. To do this, you need to stop thinking about them, constantly scroll through your head. You should saturate your life with new impressions and vivid emotions, meet more friends, have fun. Also, experts say that violent sex helps to forget well - after an orgasm, short-term memory loss may occur.

How to get amnesia?

To give a full answer to the question: how to earn amnesia? - it is necessary to identify the main causes of such a pathology. If you manage to reproduce some reason, then you can get amnesia at home 😉

The essence and types of amnesia

Amnesia is understood as a temporary or permanent loss of memory, which may be accompanied by confusion, poor coordination, inability to recognize surrounding people and space, in many patients the ability to self-identify is lost, muscle spasms occur, vision or hearing is impaired.

• - dissociated. The patient forgets all the events of his past life (or part of them), while usually retaining existing skills and abilities;
• - dissociative. It occurs in patients who suddenly left one place for another. A person can forget years of life for a few days or weeks, and then suddenly remember everything;
• - hysterical. The sick person does not remember only unpleasant, disadvantageous events that caused him pain, suffering or disappointment;
• - posthypnotic. The patient cannot remember the time when he was under the influence of hypnosis;
• - fixation and retrograde (Korsakov's syndrome) - the patient is not able to remember even five minutes of current events, for example, how he ended up in the ward, what those who came to him ten minutes ago look like, while he perfectly remembers everything that happened to him in past life (for example, before the injury);
• - postintoxication. The patient does not remember what happened to him while he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

How can you get amnesia?

The totality of provoking factors can be divided into two large groups. Let's analyze each of them separately.

Organic causes of amnesia:

• - brain injury (concussion, blow, bruise). In most cases, the patient remembers all the events until the moment of injury, and the subsequent period completely falls out of consciousness;
• - progressive diseases of the nervous system or brain (stroke, ischemia, hypoxia, tumor, encephalitis, cerebrovascular accident);
• - taking alcohol, drugs. Confusion of consciousness, complete or partial lapses in memory are accompanied by unsteady gait, trembling of the eyeball, muscle twitching, severe weakness;
• - systemic or single use of sleeping pills, strong antidepressants or other substances that affect the psyche.

Not every organism is able to withstand the effects of such strong drugs, quite often such deviations occur when the daily dose is significantly exceeded or the drug is incorrectly selected.

The second group consists of psychogenic causes. These include: severe stress, psychological trauma, epilepsy, the presence of psychological disorders, as well as emotional shock.

Examples. A patient with epilepsy does not remember what happens to him during an attack, and a person who has experienced the loss of a loved one protects himself from pain with the help of amnesia.

Amnesia can be temporary or permanent, and in most cases it can be treated. However, sometimes even the best psychoanalysts cannot help the patient.

As you can see, getting amnesia without harm to health is difficult, it remains to simulate 😉

Healthy:

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How to get amnesia? : 4 comments

is it possible to have amnesia when taking 10 tablets of diphenhydramine and 5 tablets of nifedipine at the same time

If after that you fall and hit your head, then it is possible.

And after what drugs can you get amnesia?

Do you think there are drugs to get amnesia?

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How to lose memory?

There are times when memory loss seems like the only way to get rid of unwanted memories. Asking the question "How to lose memory?" remember that this condition radically changes a person's life and can cause the complete destruction of a person's personality.

Types of amnesia and their causes

Regardless of the causes of occurrence, the state of amnesia has many types, each of which has its own characteristics.

Anterograde amnesia

In most cases, the cause of anterograde amnesia is a traumatic brain injury or severe stress. A feature of this type is the preservation of memories of events preceding the disease. At the same time, newly incoming information is not stored in memory at all.

retrograde amnesia

Signs of retrograde amnesia are completely opposite to anterograde. With a clear perception of reality, the patient cannot remember the events that happened to him before the onset of amnesia.

traumatic amnesia

The state of traumatic amnesia is temporary and occurs as a result of various head injuries (falling on the head of a heavy object, blow). Its duration depends on the strength of the blow.

hysterical amnesia

This type of amnesia is a reaction of flight from the memory of an event that the brain is not able to cope with. Such an impetus can be the loss of a loved one, sexual violence, a man-made disaster, participation in hostilities or terrorist acts, and so on. In this case, a person loses not only memories of the past, but also personal identification. In most cases, the memory returns, but the memories that caused the emotional shock can be erased from memory forever.

How to intentionally lose your memory

It is possible to artificially induce organic amnesia by taking a number of drugs: tranquilizers, cyclic antidepressants, antiadrenergic and antiprogestogen drugs.

Another radical way to lose memory is a head injury. You should not ask strangers about this, since criminal liability is provided for such an action.

Alcohol abuse, as well as the use of hallucinogenic drugs (henbane, dope, some types of mushrooms, synthetic compounds) can lead to partial memory loss.

The safest way to get rid of unwanted memories is a course of hypnosis. An experienced doctor will help erase unpleasant moments from memory in a few sessions.

Thinking about how to lose your memory, you should not experience the methods described. Remember that curing amnesia is much more difficult than acquiring it.

Memory. How can you lose your memory? ? Preferably for a long time! ! And then slowly remember everything.

* Organic (in particular, head trauma, organic brain disease, alcoholism, poisoning with sleeping pills or other substances)

* Psychological (for example, repression of memories of mental trauma). Such amnesias are called psychogenic.

2. Anterograde amnesia - the patient loses the ability to remember events that occur after the onset of the disease (provoked, for example, by trauma or stress). At the same time, he can remember everything that happened before. The patient may suffer from both retrograde and anterograde amnesia due to damage to the middle temporal zones and especially the hippocampus.

3. Fixation amnesia - impaired memory for current (more than a few minutes) events. A constituent element of Korsakoff's syndrome.

4. Traumatic amnesia - amnesia as a result of a head injury (strike, fall on the head). Traumatic amnesia is often temporary.

5. Korsakoff's syndrome - severe anterograde and retrograde amnesia due to a lack of vitamin B1 in the brain, in combination with other symptoms. The cause is most often alcoholism, although other causes, such as severe malnutrition, can lead to the same syndrome.

6. Dissociated amnesia - amnesia, in which facts from personal life are forgotten, but the memory of universal knowledge is preserved. Dissociative amnesia is usually the result of psychic trauma.

* Localized amnesia - the patient forgets everything that happened in a limited period of time.

* Selective amnesia - the patient forgets some of the events that happened within a limited period of time.

* Generalized amnesia - the patient forgets everything that happened in a limited period of time and some events that happened before.

* Continuous amnesia - the patient stops remembering new events, and also forgets some of the old ones. With dissociative amnesia, this is extremely rare.

7. Dissociative fugue is a more severe disease than dissociative amnesia. Patients with dissociative fugue suddenly leave for another place and completely forget their biography and personal data, down to the name. Sometimes they take on a new name and a new job. The dissociative fugue lasts from several hours to several months, occasionally longer, after which patients just as suddenly recall their past. In doing so, they can forget everything that happened during the fugue.

8. Childhood amnesia - the inability of all people to remember what happened to them in infancy and early childhood. The reasons are probably in the underdevelopment of the corresponding areas of the brain.

9. Post-hypnotic amnesia - inability to remember what happened during hypnosis.

If you just want to fence yourself off from how to lose your memory of some events in the past for a while, then you should try to distract yourself from them. To do this, you need to stop thinking about them, constantly scroll through your head. You should saturate your life with new impressions and vivid emotions, meet more friends, have fun. Also, experts say that violent sex helps to forget well - after an orgasm, short-term memory loss may occur.

You can turn to God for help, there are cases when miraculous icons and proper prayer helped to get rid of the oppression of the past and unpleasant memories. If possible, you should visit some remote monastery or go on a pilgrimage to holy places.

How to get amnesia

Amnesia is a disease in which symptoms of memory impairment are clearly observed, in which often a person is not able to remember some of the events, information from the past. Amnesia manifests itself mainly in a partial loss of memories, and not in a complete one, when a person is not even able to remember who he is.

With amnesia, a person has difficulty remembering any new information. The disease can appear suddenly and is often temporary. Memories gradually begin to return to the patient in chronology. The memory loss that preceded the amnesia usually does not return.

Today, quite a lot of cases have been registered when a person purposefully wants to get rid of some memories from the past. Before answering the question of how to cause amnesia and what provoking factors can cause it, let's first consider how the types of amnesia varieties exist today.

Types of amnesia

To date, experts distinguish several types of this disease, which differ in their nature and degree of memory impairment. These common types include:

A person can remember almost nothing from the events that occurred before the onset of amnesia.

In this case, the patient is unable to remember events that occur after the onset of amnesia. This can manifest itself after an injury or a severe stressful situation. Often the patient remembers events that occurred before the onset of the disease. However, in some cases, both retrograde and anterograde forms can develop, due to damage to the hippocampus.

This case is characterized as the inability to memorize new information and store it. It is part of the described Korsakov's syndrome.

As the name implies, this memory impairment occurs as a result of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. As a rule, it is temporary.

This form is characterized by the loss of memories from personal life, while retaining memory for universal abilities. It usually occurs due to severe psychological stress. This form has several subspecies:

• Localized. This memory impairment occurs due to damage to any of the parts of the brain, while the rest remain unharmed.
• Electoral. A person cannot remember the events that took place in a certain period of time, but the universal skills he acquired are preserved. Most often they are the result of some kind of mental trauma.
• Generalized. Characterized by a complete loss of memory in a certain period of time and may partially lose memories that occurred before the onset of amnesia.
• continuous. There is a lack of ability to remember new information and some gaps in memory from the past.

1. dissociative fugue

It is a more severe form than the classic form (5th point). A person may suddenly leave their main place of residence, move away and completely forget who they are, including their name. This type is not permanent, and can last from 3 hours to several months, after which the memories return.

This loss of memories is manifested in almost all people. This is manifested in the fact that a person cannot remember any events occurring in infancy.

Causes of Amnesia

So we come to the part to answer the question of how to induce amnesia. There are a lot of reasons that can lead to a violation or partial loss of memory. These factors can be divided into 2 large groups:

1. Organic. This type includes:

• Closed craniocerebral injury (bruise, blow or concussion of a severe degree). As a rule, the victim remembers events that occurred before the injury, and the moment of injury and after it fall out of his memory.
• Acute pathology of the central nervous system or brain (cerebral ischemia, oxygen starvation, stroke, tumor formation or a serious violation of cerebral blood flow)
• Alcoholic and drug intoxications. You can notice how after excessive drinking of alcohol, the next day a person is not able to remember yesterday's events, confusion occurs, which is accompanied by a tremor of the hands and trembling of the eyeballs.
• Taking medications that have a strong effect on the human psyche, for example, frequent or single use of sleeping pills or antidepressants

1. Psychogenic (psychological). This group includes:

• Stressful situation or psychological trauma
• Epilepsy
• Psychological illnesses
• emotional shock

Almost all of these factors occur during stress, and the human brain tries its best to forget these negative memories. If we take a disease such as epilepsy as an example, then memory lapses occur directly during an attack, when a person is completely unable to control himself.

The possibility of artificially obtaining amnesia

Such an extraordinary question can often be seen in various forums. In this case, a person has a need to erase from memory a certain, difficult emotional period from his life. It should be noted right away that it is possible to cause artificial amnesia, but completely different areas of memory can be affected.

These artificial methods include:

• Taking certain medications that can cause various forms of amnesia, such as a group of tranquilizers or cyclic antidepressants
• Intentional head injury
• Intoxication with hallucinogenic drugs (henbane, mushrooms, synthetic drugs) and alcohol
• Hypnosis sessions. The effectiveness of these sessions depends directly on the qualifications of the person. The method is an advantageous (artificial) method if a person has resolutely sought to eliminate past events from his life. With the help of hypnosis, an experienced specialist is able to erase unwanted information from the past and he also has complete safety for the patient's health.

These possibilities (with the exception of hypnosis) are fraught with serious consequences for your health and brain. It should be understood that before making amnesia artificially, you should weigh the pros and cons, even when using hypnosis.

Therefore, the best way to try to forget the negative consequences is to contact a psychologist who will help you get out of a difficult situation.

age amnesia

Age-related changes in cognitive functions, especially memory, may not be the result of any pathology. Healthy, elderly people, due to the aging of the body and brain, gradually lose their normal ability to memorize, and memory functions are significantly reduced. These changes occur in the age range from 45 to 65 years, are established at the final level and do not continue their development.

There are some diseases that develop mainly in old age. The most common disease is senile dementia or insanity, which, in turn, leads to partial, and subsequently complete amnesia. The progression of Alzheimer's disease also gradually leads to complete amnesia.

With dementia, all types of long-term memory begin to be disturbed, but memories of past events are fixed in memory for a long time. With dementia, there is a weakness of the trace, a decrease in the volume of stored information after the first presentations, and difficulties in semantic processing appear.

To preserve memory in old age, a person needs to constantly train his brain, for example, to engage in some kind of scientific activity or mental exercises.

Memory disorders: why memory becomes poor, the norm and the relationship with diseases, treatment

Memory is an important function of our central nervous system to perceive the received information and store it in some invisible “cells” of the brain in reserve in order to retrieve and use it in the future. Memory is one of the most important abilities of a person’s mental activity, therefore the slightest violation of memory burdens him, he gets out of the usual rhythm of life, suffering himself and annoying those around him.

Memory impairment is most often perceived as one of the many clinical manifestations of some kind of neuropsychic or neurological pathology, although in other cases forgetfulness, absent-mindedness and poor memory are the only signs of a disease that no one pays attention to, believing that a person is such by nature. .

The big mystery is human memory

Memory is a complex process that takes place in the central nervous system and involves the perception, accumulation, retention and reproduction of information received at different periods of time. Most of all, we think about the properties of our memory when we need to learn something new. The result of all the efforts made in the learning process depends on how someone manages to hook, hold, perceive what they see, hear or read, which is important when choosing a profession. From the point of view of biology, memory is short-term and long-term.

Information received in a glimpse or, as they say, “it flew into one ear, flew out of the other” is a short-term memory in which what is seen and heard is postponed for several minutes, but, as a rule, without meaning and content. So, the episode flashed by and disappeared. Short-term memory does not promise anything in advance, which is probably good, because otherwise a person would have to store all the information that he does not need at all.

However, with certain efforts of a person, information that has fallen into the zone of short-term memory, if you keep your eyes on it or listen and delve into it, will be transferred to long-term storage. This happens even beyond the will of a person, if some episodes are often repeated, have a special emotional significance, or occupy a separate place among other phenomena for various reasons.

Assessing their memory, some people claim that they have a short-term memory, because everything is remembered, assimilated, retold in a couple of days, and then just as quickly forgotten. This often happens when preparing for exams, when information is put aside only for the purpose of reproducing it to decorate a grade book. It should be noted that in such cases, turning again to this topic, when it becomes interesting, a person can easily restore seemingly lost knowledge. It is one thing to know and forget, and another to not receive information. And here everything is simple - the acquired knowledge without much human effort was transformed into departments of long-term memory.

Long-term memory analyzes, structures, creates volume and purposefully postpones everything for future use indefinitely. It's all about long-term memory. Memorization mechanisms are very complex, but we are so used to them that we perceive them as natural and simple things. However, we note that for the successful implementation of the learning process, in addition to memory, it is important to have attention, that is, to be able to concentrate on the right subjects.

It is common for a person to forget past events after a while, if they do not periodically extract their knowledge in order to use them, therefore, the inability to remember something is not always to be attributed to memory impairment. Each of us has experienced the feeling when “it is spinning in the head, but it does not come to mind”, but this does not mean that serious disorders have occurred in the memory.

Why do memory lapses happen?

The causes of impaired memory and attention in adults and children may be different. If a child with congenital mental retardation immediately has learning problems, then he will already come to adulthood with these disorders. Children and adults can react differently to the environment: the child's psyche is more tender, so it takes stress harder. In addition, adults have long studied what the child is still trying to master.

Sadly, the trend towards the use of alcoholic beverages and drugs by adolescents, and even by young children left unattended by their parents, has become frightening: cases of poisoning are not so rarely recorded in the reports of law enforcement agencies and medical institutions. But for the child's brain, alcohol is the strongest poison that has an extremely negative effect on memory.

True, some pathological conditions that often cause absent-mindedness and poor memory in adults are usually excluded in children (Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, osteochondrosis).

Causes of memory impairment in children

Thus, the causes of impaired memory and attention in children can be considered:

• Lack of vitamins, anemia;
• Asthenia;
• Frequent viral infections;
• Traumatic brain injury;
• Stressful situations (dysfunctional family, despotism of parents, problems in the team that the child attends);
• Poor eyesight;
• brain tumors;
• Mental disorder;
• Poisoning, alcohol and drug use;
• Congenital pathology, in which mental retardation is programmed (Down's syndrome, etc.) or other (whatever) conditions (lack of vitamins or trace elements, the use of certain drugs, changes in metabolic processes that are not for the better) that contribute to the formation of attention deficit disorder, which, As you know, memory does not improve.

Causes of problems in adults

In adults, the reason that has become a bad memory, absent-mindedness and inability to concentrate for a long time, are various diseases acquired in the process of life:

Of course, anemia of various origins, micronutrient deficiencies, vegetative-vascular dystonia, diabetes mellitus and numerous other somatic pathologies lead to impaired memory and attention, contribute to forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

What are the types of memory disorders? Among them, dysmnesias (hypermnesia, hypomnesia, amnesia) are distinguished - changes in memory itself, and paramnesia - a distortion of memories, to which the patient's personal fantasies are added. By the way, some of them, on the contrary, are considered by others to be rather a phenomenal memory than its violation. True, experts may have a slightly different opinion on this matter.

Dysmnesia

Phenomenal memory or mental disorder?

Hypermnesia - with such a violation, people remember and perceive quickly, information set aside many years ago for no reason pops up in memory, “rolls”, returns to the past, which does not always cause positive emotions. A person himself does not know why he needs to keep everything in his head, however, he can reproduce some long-past events to the smallest detail. For example, an elderly person can easily describe in detail (up to the teacher's clothes) individual lessons at school, retell the lithmontage of a pioneer gathering, it is not difficult for him to remember other details related to studying at the institute, professional activities or family events.

Hypermnesia, present in a healthy person in the absence of other clinical manifestations, is not considered a disease, rather, on the contrary, this is exactly the case when they talk about phenomenal memory, although from the point of view of psychology, phenomenal memory is a slightly different phenomenon. People with this phenomenon are able to memorize and reproduce huge amounts of information that is not connected with any special meaning. These can be large numbers, sets of individual words, lists of objects, notes. Such a memory is often possessed by great writers, musicians, mathematicians and people of other professions that require genius abilities. Meanwhile, hypermnesia in a healthy person who does not belong to the cohort of geniuses, but has a high intelligence quotient (IQ), is not such a rare occurrence.

As one of the symptoms of pathological conditions, memory impairment in the form of hypermnesia occurs:

• With paroxysmal mental disorders (epilepsy);
• With intoxication with psychoactive substances (psychotropic drugs, narcotic drugs);
• In the case of hypomania - a condition similar to mania, but not up to it in severity. Patients may experience a surge of energy, increased vitality, and ability to work. With hypomania, a violation of memory and attention is often combined (disinhibition, instability, inability to concentrate).

It is obvious that only a specialist can understand such subtleties, distinguish between the norm and pathology. Most of us are average representatives of the human population, to whom "nothing human is alien", but at the same time they do not turn the world upside down. From time to time (not every year and not in every locality) geniuses appear, they are not always immediately noticeable, because often such individuals are considered simply eccentrics. And, finally, (perhaps not often?) among the various pathological conditions there are mental illnesses that require correction and complex treatment.

bad memory

Hypomnesia - this type is usually expressed in two words: "bad memory."

Forgetfulness, absent-mindedness and poor memory are observed with asthenic syndrome, which, in addition to memory problems, is also characterized by other symptoms:

Asthenic syndrome, as a rule, forms another pathology, for example:

• Arterial hypertension.
• Postponed traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• atherosclerotic process.
• The initial stage of schizophrenia.

The cause of impaired memory and attention according to the type of hypomnesia can be various depressive conditions (you can’t count everyone), menopausal syndrome that occurs with an adaptation disorder, organic brain damage (severe TBI, epilepsy, tumors). In such situations, as a rule, in addition to hypomnesia, the symptoms listed above are also present.

"I remember here - I don't remember here"

With amnesia, not the entire memory falls out, but its individual fragments. As an example of this type of amnesia, one would like to recall the film by Alexander Gray "Gentlemen of Fortune" - "I remember here - I don't remember here."

However, not all amnesias look like in the famous motion picture, there are more serious cases when memory is lost significantly and for a long time or forever, therefore, several types of such memory impairments (amnesia) are distinguished:

1. Dissociative amnesia erases the memory of events that caused psychological trauma. Severe stress causes a protective reaction of the body, and it tries to hide situations that a person cannot survive on his own. From the depths of the unconscious, these events can only be obtained by special methods (hypnosis);
2. Retrograde amnesia - a person forgets what happened before the injury (most often this happens after a TBI) - the patient came to his senses, but does not remember who he is and what happened to him;
3. Anterograde amnesia - before the injury (TTM or a strong psycho-traumatic situation), everything is remembered, and after the injury - a failure;
4. Fixation amnesia - poor memory for current events (a person forgets what happened today);
5. Total amnesia - all information disappears from memory, including information regarding one's own "I".

A special type of memory loss that cannot be dealt with is progressive amnesia, which is a progressive loss of memory from the present to the past. The reason for the destruction of memory in such cases is the organic atrophy of the brain, which occurs in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Such patients poorly reproduce traces of memory (speech disorders), for example, they forget the names of household items that they use daily (plate, chair, clock), but at the same time they know what they are intended for (amnestic aphasia). In other cases, the patient simply does not recognize the thing (sensory aphasia) or does not know what it is for (semantic aphasia). However, one should not confuse the habits of “radical” owners to find a use for everything that is in the house, even if it is intended for completely different purposes (you can make a beautiful dish or stand out of a used kitchen clock in the form of a plate).

This is what you need to figure out!

Paramnesia (distortion of memories) is also referred to as memory impairment, and among them the following types are distinguished:

• Confabulation, in which fragments of one’s own memory disappear, and their place is taken by stories invented by the patient and presented to them “in all seriousness”, since he himself believes in what he is talking about. Patients talk about their exploits, unprecedented achievements in life and work, and even sometimes about crimes.
• Pseudo-reminiscence - the replacement of one memory by another event that actually took place in the patient's life, only at a completely different time and under different circumstances (Korsakov's syndrome).
• Cryptomnesia, when patients, having received information from various sources (books, movies, stories of other people), pass it off as events they experienced. In a word, patients, due to pathological changes, go to involuntary plagiarism, which is characteristic of delusional ideas found in organic disorders.
• Echomnesia - a person feels (quite sincerely) that this event has already happened to him (or did he see it in a dream?). Of course, such thoughts sometimes visit a healthy person, but the difference is that patients attach special significance to such phenomena (“go in cycles”), while healthy people simply quickly forget about it.
• Polympsest - this symptom exists in two versions: short-term memory lapses associated with pathological alcohol intoxication (episodes of the past day are confused with long-past events), and the combination of two different events of the same period of time, in the end, the patient himself does not know what was in fact.

As a rule, these symptoms in pathological conditions are accompanied by other clinical manifestations, therefore, having noticed signs of “déjà vu” in oneself, there is no need to rush to make a diagnosis - this also happens in healthy people.

Decreased concentration affects memory

To violations of memory and attention, the loss of the ability to focus on specific objects include the following pathological conditions:

1. Instability of attention - a person is constantly distracted, jumps from one subject to another (disinhibition syndrome in children, hypomania, hebephrenia - a mental disorder that develops as a form of schizophrenia in adolescence);
2. Rigidity (slowness of switching) from one topic to another - this symptom is very characteristic of epilepsy (those who communicated with such people know that the patient is constantly “stuck”, which makes it difficult to conduct a dialogue);
3. Insufficient concentration of attention - they say about such people: “That’s what a distracted one from Basseinaya Street!”, That is, absent-mindedness and poor memory in such cases are often perceived as features of temperament and behavior, which, in principle, often corresponds to reality.

Undoubtedly, a decrease in concentration of attention, in particular, will adversely affect the entire process of memorizing and storing information, that is, the state of memory as a whole.

Children forget faster

As for children, all these gross, permanent memory impairments, characteristic of adults and, especially, the elderly, are very rarely noted in childhood. Memory problems that arise due to congenital features require correction and, with a skillful approach (as far as possible), may recede a little. There are many cases when the efforts of parents and teachers literally worked wonders for Down syndrome and other types of congenital mental retardation, but here the approach is individual and dependent on different circumstances.

Another thing is if the baby was born healthy, and the problems appeared as a result of the troubles suffered. So the child can expect a slightly different reaction to various situations:

• Amnesia in children in most cases is manifested by memory lapses in relation to individual memories of episodes that occurred during the period of clouding of consciousness associated with unpleasant events (poisoning, coma, trauma) - it is not in vain that they say that children quickly forget;
• Alcoholization of adolescence also proceeds differently than in adults - the absence of memories (polympsests) for events occurring during intoxication appears already in the first stages of drunkenness, without waiting for a diagnosis (alcoholism);
• Retrograde amnesia in children, as a rule, affects a short period of time before injury or illness, and its severity is not as clear as in adults, that is, memory loss in a child can not always be noticed.

Most often, children and adolescents have a memory impairment of the type of dysmnesia, which is manifested by a weakening of the ability to remember, store (retention) and reproduce (reproduction) the information received. Disorders of this type are more noticeable in school-age children, as they affect school performance, adaptation in a team, and behavior in everyday life.

In children attending preschool institutions, symptoms of dysmnesia are problems with memorizing rhymes, songs, children cannot participate in children's matinees and holidays. Despite the fact that the kid attends kindergarten all the time, every time he comes there, he cannot find his locker on his own to change clothes, among other items (toys, clothes, towels) it is difficult for him to find his own. Dysmnestic disorders are also noticeable at home: the child cannot tell what happened in the garden, forgets the names of other children, each time he reads fairy tales he perceives as if he hears them for the first time, he does not remember the names of the main characters.

Transient disturbances of memory and attention, along with fatigue, drowsiness and all sorts of autonomic disorders, are often observed in schoolchildren with cerebrosthenic syndrome of various etiologies.

Before treatment

Before treating the symptoms of memory impairment, it is necessary to make a correct diagnosis and find out what causes the patient's problems. To do this, you need to get as much information about his health:

1. What diseases does he suffer from? Perhaps it will be possible to trace the connection between the existing pathology (or transferred in the past) with the deterioration of intellectual abilities;
2. Does he have a pathology that directly leads to memory impairment: dementia, cerebrovascular insufficiency, TBI (history), chronic alcoholism, drug disorders?
3. What medications does the patient take and is memory impairment related to the use of medications? Some groups of pharmaceuticals, for example, benzodiazepines, among the side effects, have such disorders, which, however, are reversible.

In addition, in the process of diagnostic search, a biochemical blood test can be very useful, which allows you to identify metabolic disorders, hormonal imbalance, deficiency of trace elements and vitamins.

In most cases, when searching for the causes of memory impairment, neuroimaging methods (CT, MRI, EEG, PET, etc.) are used, which help to detect a brain tumor or hydrocephalus and, at the same time, to differentiate a vascular brain lesion from a degenerative one.

The need for neuroimaging methods also arises because memory impairment at first may be the only symptom of a serious pathology. Unfortunately, the greatest difficulties in diagnosis are depressive states, forcing in other cases to prescribe a trial antidepressant treatment (to find out if there is depression or not).

Treatment and correction

The normal aging process itself implies some decrease in intellectual abilities: forgetfulness appears, memorization is not so easy, concentration of attention drops, especially if the neck is “squeezed” or pressure rises, however, such symptoms do not significantly affect the quality of life and behavior in everyday life . Older people who adequately assess their age learn to remind themselves (and quickly remember) about current affairs.

In addition, many do not neglect pharmaceutical treatment to improve memory.

Now there are a number of drugs that can improve brain function and even help with tasks that require significant intellectual effort. First of all, these are nootropics (piracetam, phezam, vinpocetine, cerebrolysin, cinnarizine, etc.).

Nootropics are indicated for elderly people who have certain age-related problems that are not yet noticeable to others. The drugs of this group are suitable for improving memory in violation of cerebral circulation caused by other pathological conditions of the brain and vascular system. By the way, many of these drugs are successfully used in pediatric practice.

However, nootropics are a symptomatic treatment, and in order to obtain the proper effect, one must strive for an etiotropic one.

As for Alzheimer's disease, tumors, mental disorders, here the approach to treatment should be very specific - depending on the pathological changes and the reasons that led to them. There is no single prescription for all cases, so there is nothing to advise patients. You just need to contact a doctor, who, perhaps, before prescribing drugs to improve memory, will send for an additional examination.

Difficult in adults and the correction of disorders of mental activity. Patients with poor memory, under the supervision of an instructor, memorize verses, solve crossword puzzles, practice solving logical problems, however, training, bringing some success (the severity of mnestic disorders seems to have decreased), still do not give particularly significant results.

Correction of memory and attention in children, in addition to treatment with the help of various groups of pharmaceuticals, provides for classes with a psychologist, exercises for the development of memory (poems, drawings, tasks). Of course, the children's psyche is more mobile and better amenable to correction, unlike the adult psyche. Children have the prospect of progressive development, while in older people only the opposite effect progresses.

Hello! We often talk about improving memory and the brain in general. About various neurotransmitters that positively affect cognitive abilities. Today we will analyze the real ways of memory deterioration.

About memory

The memory process is very flexible and the brain itself perfectly determines what information is important to remember, for example, to cook a simple dish to eat, and what can be forgotten is background information.

Section 2. Pharmacological ways of forgetting

Might work if a little more time has passed. These methods are really dangerous, because they rather harm the brain. We do not recommend admission, the information is given for review.

1. Alcohol

Alcohol causes memory lapses, acts as an anti-stress, and in good company also improves mood.

A large dosage of alcohol kills nerve cells. Violates the formation of synaptic connections, where our memory is enclosed. So it's important to decide if it's worth it.

1. Reduce acetylcholine

One of the most popular diseases that can occur in old age - Alzheimer's disease, in particular, leads to impairments in short-term memory. A person usually remembers long-standing events, but there are problems with remembering events of several days.

This disease is associated with many causes, and one of the main ones is a decrease in the neurotransmitter a. And of course, there are substances that help reduce it for a while.

Examples of active substances: Trihexyphenidyl, Azamethonium bromide.

Even in the instructions for them, in the side effects it is written: "short-term memory impairment."

1. Anti-anxiety medications

They allow you to more indifferently evaluate everything around. There are both fairly safe dietary supplements, like Motherwort, and heavy neuroleptics like Resperidon.

Protein synthesis inhibitors can also be distinguished: cycloheximide anisomycin puromycin, camptothecin, actinomycin D and NMDA receptor blockers. The problem is that these things need to be accepted before stress, and this, as you understand, is almost unrealistic. Protein synthesis inhibitors are generally injected directly into the brain. Well, by the way, if you really want to spoil your memory on a particular day, then there is such a popular NMDA receptor blocker, besides the dissociative Memantine. Dosages of 20-40 mg are already capable of causing bluntness in healthy people. According to memantine

On the topic of pharmacology: alcohol, acetylcholine and NMDA receptor blockers are good at spoiling memory. But first of all we work with psychology. And regular “thumping” will not get rid of problems, rather it will add.

A negative experience is also an experience, and you need to understand that having only positive memories is just as dangerous as having only negative ones. In addition, when remembering an event, we, therefore, it is quite likely that our memory, even for the negative, is distorted, exaggerated.

I hope the knowledge from the video will help you in the future! Good luck and see you soon!

Memory is considered one of the many phenomena that is still not fully understood. Each of us is familiar with situations when you forget your keys to the house, a scheduled meeting flies out of your head, etc. Everyone has small memory lapses, but if they happen too often, there is reason to think. This may be a symptom of a serious illness. Memory loss is seen in both young and old people. The second option is more common and popular. Unfortunately, close relatives and friends of older people often do not attach due importance to memory lapses.

Memory loss: what is it called and what is it?

We can distinguish four processes into which memory is divided: memorization, preservation, reproduction and forgetting. In this article, we will talk about the last of them. In medicine, memory loss is called amnesia. There are two main types: partial and complete. The first option is a completely normal situation, because every person is prone to forgetting something insignificant. As for the second kind, it represents the loss of memories completely. However, it should be noted that amnesia in this form is treatable.

Loss of memories is seen mainly in the elderly. Close people need to make every effort to protect their friend or relative aged from such an ailment. Even if there are no obvious reasons for unrest, it is still worth carefully monitoring the situation. As you know, everything happens from small to big: from forgetting your affairs two days ago to complete amnesia.

Short-term type of memory loss

Short-term memory loss is common among old people. It is characterized by the loss of vivid memories of events that occurred several days or months ago. This syndrome lasts for a couple of minutes, it cannot last for years.

The causes of this disease can be head injuries, medication, infectious diseases. Sometimes short-term memory loss occurs when trying to lose weight through hunger strikes and strict diets. For older people, the most common source of the problem is medication. Experts in the field of medicine call this syndrome "forgetfulness of the elderly." This can be cured with certain medicines, proper nutrition and some tips to improve brain function.

Acute type amnesia

This type of memory loss is very similar to the previous one. It is observed most often in older people, manifested by the fact that there is a rapid deviation from the intended goal. The simplest example: a person goes to the kitchen for water, and on the way he forgets what he wanted to do. Severe amnesia also occurs in young people. This is due to a malfunction in the functioning of the brain. From a medical point of view, a reaction occurs, similar to a mini-stroke, and the previous activity suffers from this.

Among the reasons for the appearance of such an ailment, one can single out a sharp rise from a sitting position and other similar actions. Memory loss in the elderly has more serious consequences. Therefore, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. The doctor will prescribe drugs aimed at improving vascular activity, which will benefit the old people.

sudden amnesia

Here we will talk about the loss of memories, which can lead to death. This refers to cases where people leave the house to shop, and then cannot find their way back due to forgetfulness. Unfortunately, modern medicine has not yet fully studied this phenomenon, so the question remains open.

Those who have experienced sudden memory loss cannot remember their name or any other data from their past. The danger of this type of amnesia lies in the impossibility of determining the sources of the disease. It turns out that no one is immune from such a phenomenon, even all preventive measures in the world will not help. Of course, there are cases when memories are completely lost due to a head injury or an infection, but most situations cannot be rationally explained. Such patients often go missing, and if they are found, it is very difficult to determine anything. Close relatives are only rarely announced, which makes the problem even more serious.

Sclerosis: what is it?

Many people equate amnesia with however doing so is wrong. Multiple sclerosis is a complete disease in which part of the brain cells die. This development of events is associated with the accumulation of cholesterol plaques in the vessels, which interferes with the blood circulation process. Sclerosis in rare cases attacks young people, but the elderly are more affected. Let's see why:

• The blood supply is disrupted a priori. It is logical that when the body ages, the vessels also age, losing their elasticity. Sclerosis in such situations is manifested by insomnia and irritability.
• Cell renewal is slow. With age, the regeneration process slows down significantly, and renewal is necessary for normal life.
• Degradation of the processes occurring in the body. As you know, the brain transmits impulses to nerve cells, in older people this function works worse, due to which mental and motor activity decreases.

Causes of amnesia

To determine the severity of the disease, it is necessary to study the sources. The causes of memory loss are often:

• chronic diseases of any nature, strong blows and severe head injuries;
• disorders of brain activity, destruction of nerve cells, disorders;
• insomnia, sedentary lifestyle, metabolic disorders in the body;
• lesions leading to improper circulation, depression and stress, bouts of chronic fatigue;
• lethargy or overexcitation, malnutrition.

Amnesia sometimes occurs due to excessive thoughtfulness and distracted attention. Young people should carefully study their behavior in order to get rid of all preconditions. You may experience memory loss after a major shock, such as a car or plane crash.

signs

Loss of memories can act as a full-fledged disease that has its own causes and symptoms. We have reviewed the sources, now let's talk about the signs:

• a person does not fulfill the promise due to forgetfulness;
• often there is inattention in the conduct of affairs;
• absent-mindedness, there are violations in speech;
• irritability for no apparent reason, the person himself cannot explain why he is so angry;
• sometimes you can track the change in handwriting;
• chronic fatigue, rapid fatigue, a bad mood is constantly observed, not caused by any factors.

The disease of memory loss, accompanied by these symptoms, can develop in a person aged 40-50 years. If you notice such signs in your loved one, you should consult a doctor for treatment. Elderly people in any case should undergo therapy, regardless of the manifestations of the disease.

Diagnostics

Before prescribing therapy, the attending physician must conduct a study in order to identify the disease. Diagnostics involves determining the nature of amnesia, which in the future will give a complete picture for the restoration of memory processes. The most effective laboratory measures for determining the diagnosis are: EEG, computed tomography, biochemical complete blood count, duplex scanning, etc.

The specific procedure is prescribed by the attending physician, depending on the situation. Basically, there is a study of the brain, and all its processes. Based on the results of the study, the doctor makes a diagnosis. Then the method of treatment is selected, and therapy is prescribed. It is not recommended to recover on your own, because taking certain medications will only aggravate the situation, possibly provoking a stroke or heart attack.

How to treat memory loss?

It depends primarily on the nature of the problem. There are at least two types of therapy in this situation: medical and psychological. Let's start with the first option.

Partial memory loss is treated with the following medications:

• "Trental" will improve the process of blood circulation in the brain;
• "Piracetam" and "Actovegin" are aimed at preventing the destruction of neurons (these are the cells of the nervous system that transmit information from the brain);
• "Glycine" is used to improve memory function.

A number of other seemingly similar drugs differ in their contraindications and side effects. It is for this reason that it is forbidden to self-medicate.

Psychotherapy

Psychological treatment involves the restoration of the brain system with the help of classes with professionals. The most effective is complex therapy, which includes both medications and communication with psychologists. Defectologists, psychotherapists quite often limit themselves to solving riddles and puzzles, board games. Such simple methods help to activate brain activity, which sooner or later will lead to a positive result.

If there is a severe case, specialists use hypnosuggestive therapy. Hypnosis allows a person to recall many moments from life. But such treatment should only be carried out by a professional, because there is a chance of aggravating the situation.

Daily regime

How to treat memory loss in the elderly? It is not recommended to send them to special medical institutions, this will only worsen the situation. An older person will recover faster in the circle of people close to him. On the part of relatives, it is necessary to provide:

• sleep of an old man at least 9 hours a day, and maybe more, depending on age;
• a calm atmosphere in the house: forget about quarrels and disputes, it is advisable not to raise your voice when talking;
• attention: sometimes a small conversation is enough for an elderly person, it is better to spend as much time as possible with him (play, walk, watch TV, etc.);
• fresh air: every day you need to walk with the old man, at least an hour, preferably twice a day;
• moderate physical activity: here we mean morning exercises, if it’s hard for an elderly person, do gymnastics together.

The key word in the last factor is moderate. In no case should overload be allowed, this will worsen the general condition of a person. Exercises and the number of their performances will be prescribed by the attending physician after the examination.

Prevention

It is impossible to completely prevent the disease. The only thing that can be done is to slow the progression of the disease through preventive measures. Already at the age of 20, the process of death of brain cells begins in a person. However, this is not a sentence, when the right actions are performed, other cells with the functions of the destroyed ones will be repurposed.

Such processes occur due to a number of factors:

• reading, and no matter what kind of literature: be it fiction, historical or documentary;
• learning new skills, including singing, dancing, sewing, etc.;
• learning foreign languages;
• solving puzzles, crosswords and crossword puzzles, this slows down the process of memory loss by an average of three years;
• active life with constant communication.

In addition to the above preventive measures, it is necessary to exclude the impact of negative factors. This includes alcohol and smoking. In addition, follow the daily routine: observe 8-hour daily sleep, eat right, you need to diversify the diet with vegetables and fruits.