Memory-loss man case 'like nothing we have ever seen before'
Key points
- "One of our reasons for writing up this individual's case was that we had never seen anything like this before in our assessment clinics, and we do not know what to make of it.
- A University of Leicester clinical psychologist has described treating an individual with a 'Groundhog Day/Memento'- style memory loss as 'like nothing we have ever seen before'.
- Now Dr Gerald Burgess has described the study of an amnesia patient - who suffered memory loss after root-canal treatment at a dentist - in an academic article in the journal Neurocase.
- The work by Dr Burgess from the University of Leicester was done in collaboration with Bhanu Chadalavada Consultant Psychiatrist at Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust, Northampton.
"One of our reasons for writing up this individual's case was that we had never seen anything like this before in our assessment clinics, and we do not know what to make of it. We had never seen anything like it before." - Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Dr Gerald Burgess, University of Leicester
A University of Leicester clinical psychologist has described treating an individual with a 'Groundhog Day/Memento'- style memory loss as 'like nothing we have ever seen before'.
Now Dr Gerald Burgess has described the study of an amnesia patient - who suffered memory loss after root-canal treatment at a dentist - in an academic article in the journal Neurocase.
The work by Dr Burgess from the University of Leicester was done in collaboration with Bhanu Chadalavada Consultant Psychiatrist at Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust, Northampton.
Dr Burgess is now appealing for people who know of someone who might have suffered similar symptoms of memory loss, or medical or allied health professionals working with someone like this, to contact him in order to build up knowledge and evidence in this field of study.
Dr Burgess, of the School of Psychology at the University of Leicester, was working as a clinical psychologist a decade ago when the patient was referred to him.
Dr Burgess said: "One of our reasons for writing up this individual's case was that we had never seen anything like this before in our assessment clinics, and we do not know what to make of it, but felt an honest reporting of the facts as we assessed them was warranted, that perhaps there will be other cases, or people who know more than we do about what might have caused the patient's amnesia.
"Our experience was that none of our colleagues in neurology, psychiatry, and clinical neuropsychology could explain this case, or had seen anything like it themselves before."
- University of Leicester psychologist describes unique case as new to science
- 38-year-old fit and healthy man suffered memory loss after local anaesthetic and root-canal treatment at dentist
- For the past decade he can only remember up to 90 minutes
- And he awakes each day thinking it is the same day he went to the dentist
- Symptoms are akin to those depicted in movies such as Groundhog Day and Memento
- There is no evidence that the treatment at the dentist can be blamed for his condition
The case revolves around a 38-year-old man from the UK who went to the dentist for a routine procedure and lost the ability to create new memories. Since the one-hour root-canal treatment, during which he was given a local anaesthetic, the individual cannot remember anything beyond 90 minutes.
Written and revised by
Gerald Hurowitz, M.D.
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