Article

Dissociative amnesias have been reported in neurological episodes mild enough to
not cause any visible lesions on morphological examination. Disproportionate
retrograde amnesia with or without identity loss happens in the context of
psychological trauma (known or not). In metabolic imaging studies, some authors
have reported functional alterations, particularly in the bilateral hippocampus,
right temporal regions and inferolateral prefrontal cortex, despite normal
morphological imaging. To avoid the presumption of an organic, psychogenic or
mixed origin for such changes, De Renzi et al. suggested the term 'functional
amnesia' to describe the condition. Patients have sometimes recovered during
events similar to those preceding the amnesia in either a spectacular fashion or
never. Also, in some cases, distraction or sedation may trigger the start of
recovery. During psychotherapy, one patient remembered seeing a car on fire when
he was a boy, and his amnesia started when his house was on fire. This suggests
control by the frontal cortex, with repression blocking amnesic traces in the new
emotional and biological context.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Langue : ANGLAIS