Describe the pathophysiology of anterograde amnesia

It is a form of neurological disease that affects your ability to make new memories. The hippocampus is usually damaged or injured, as it is responsible for the creation of new memories.

Anterograde Amnesia is caused by a disruption in the normal memory consolidation and retrieval processes. Synaptic plasticity is a brain-wide process that involves changes to the strength or connectivity of synapses. In this process, the hippocampus is crucial because it facilitates the transfer of memories from short term to long-term memory storage.

This process is impaired in amnesia anterograde due to damage or injury caused by the hippocampus. This loss of plasticity in synaptic connections results from a reduced ability to encode and store new memories. They are subsequently lost, firstly from the short-term storage before they become consolidated. Anterograde amnesia patients are not able to recall events that occurred after the start of their condition.

Anterograde memory loss does not affect all kinds of memories equally. Anterograde patients may remember skills, habits and other procedural memory stored in various brain areas. They are unable to recall new events and experiences.