ABSTRACT
The medial aspects of the temporal lobes are vulnerable to many forms of brain insult, including ischaemia, anoxia, metabolic abnormality, epileptic seizure, viral infection and dementing illness. It has also been known for a long time that memory disturbance is a major consequence of damage to this brain region (Sommer, 1880; Uchimura, 1928). An early account of amnesia following temporal lobe damage is that of Kohnstamm (1917), who described a relatively pure amnesic syndrome in a soldier who suffered probable carbon monoxide poisoning after being buried in rubble for 2 weeks. Kohnstamm noted several phenomena one would now identify as typical of a “pure” amnesia. Intelligence testing suggested preserved intellect and knowledge of foreign languages was preserved. He had major problems learning new information such as his way around the hospital and failed to recall various social activities he had engaged in. Recall of pre-morbid information was also impaired, although he did show savings in relearning poetry he had known before. He could still play familiar pieces of music on the piano, despite forgetting their name, and retained his ability to converse in foreign languages.
