ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the formation of Flashbulb memories (FBM) in different clinical populations, and focuses on patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. The most common cause of memory problems is AD dementia, a degenerative disease of the brain caused by the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Patients with MCI due to AD typically show impairment on tests of memory, but are not demented and usually perform normally on tests of other neuropsychological domains. Caused by a thiamine deficiency usually associated with alcoholism, Korsakoff syndrome is marked by dense amnesia and a tendency to confabulate. Following a life threatening or other terrifying event, a person may develop a constellation of signs and symptoms known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studying memory for national traumatic events in PTSD seems natural, as some researchers have suggested that FBMs and PTSD are related psychological reactions to trauma.
