A Case of Post-Traumatic Retrograde and Anterograde Loss of Autobiographical Memory in the Absence of Medial Temporal Lobe Lesion

We present an unusual case of a middle-aged patient with a near-total loss of autobiographical memory; the memory of one's own personal history and personal identity following a motor vehicle accident. The nature of his autobiographical memory loss was anterograde and retrograde amnesia, with the preservation of procedural learning, including an extensive set of medical skills, which he attributed to his career as a psychiatrist. Of significance was the absence of any traumatic changes in the medial temporal lobe structures, hippocampal formation, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex on brain imaging. The significance of our findings is discussed in the context of the evolving theories of the role of medial temporal lobe structures in memory formation.