Thanks for the memories H.M.!

i-75fa6f7cebb4145668724f37f5a52b36-steve_icon_medium.jpg Arguably the most important and certainly the most famous single case study patient in Psychology and Neuroscience passed away on Tuesday December 2nd. H.M. as he was known to probably every student of Psychology can now be revealed as Henry G. Molaison, 82, from Windsor Locks, CT.

HM was a man with no memory (well... at least episodic). Early in his life he developed epilepsy which left him very much incapacitated, he would have numerous small and large seizures a day. After nearly lethal doses of drugs that sought (unsuccessfully) to control the seizures, doctors, namely William Scoville, decided on a drastic course of action. They would remove the source of the seizures. So after some exploration into HM's brain they discovered that the source of all his problems lay in and around the hippocampus. Melville and his team of surgeons went in a short time later and removed a majority of his medial temporal lobe and thankfully the seizures stopped. Unfortunately though, something just as debilitating replaced them - HM had no memory. He could remember some things prior to the surgery but he could form no new ones.

i-8cbb0d084a2d7a880740aabd341f964b-hm.hippcampus.mri-1.jpgH.M. is the basis for nearly everything we now know today about the neural basis of memory. People have continued research with him up until his recent death at the ripe old age of 82. I believe he lived his life as a professional research subject ;)

For more information check out here and here.

-Fine.. I changed the titles you easily offended putzes-

More like this

"Seeya?" How about "Thanks, H.M.!" instead? This guy's life and the story of his contributions to science are fascinating. They would make a great Hollywood film, which would be a deserved memorial for him. A book is underway -- and a movie script could easily borrow from the various extent textbook accounts.

ts

By Twelvestones (not verified) on 06 Dec 2008 #permalink

I agree... Seeya is a little rude (ok a lot rude). What about thanks for the memories?

hen I played, it was like the gym was empty. Just the coach, players and referees. I only noticed the fans once in a while and that was when I was not playing. I doubt that athletes are really bothered by the crowd.
Football players have developed the silent count or other techniques to get past the crowd noise.
Keep trying, but I doubt it really matters.
Unless your the home team

we'll i am no scientist, physicist etc. I am a writer, a fantasy writer. I have studied different religions and i studied some facts about multiverse theory

Very interesting post! CCO Neurology is a new, multi-supported educational portal for neurologists. Current offerings include coverage of key studies presented in epilepsy, Parkinsonâs disease, and restless legs syndrome at the 2010 Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Capsule Summaries capture the data in an easy-to-read format while Expert Highlights share faculty perspectives regarding application to practice.

Hereâs the link to check on: http://www.clinicaloptions.com/Neurology

We are looking to expand our offerings over the next year. You can also check out Twitter account: www.twitter.com/CCO_Neurology for the latest research.