Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

amnesia
Memory loss that occurs 
without other mental diffi culties.
retrograde amnesia
Amnesia in which 
memory is lost for occurrences prior to 
a certain event.
anterograde amnesia
Amnesia in 
which memory is lost for events that 
follow an injury.
Korsakoff’s syndrome
A disease that 
affl icts long-term alcoholics, leaving 
some abilities intact but including 
hallucinations and a tendency to 
repeat the same story.
Neuroscience in Your Life: 
Alzheimer’s Disease 
and Brain Deterioration
FIGURE 4
Alzheimer’s disease, which is the fourth leading cause of death among adults 
in the United States, is characterized by signifi cant memory declines. Here a man with 
Alzheimer’s was followed for three years to learn how his brain processed autobiographical 
memories as the disease progressed. (a) While in the fi rst year, the areas of the brain used 
for long-term memory, such as the hippocampus and surrounding temporal lobe (shown 
in yellow, orange, and red), are activated similarly to healthy adults. (b) In the second 
year, as his abilities began to decline, other areas of the brain began to compensate by 
increasing the levels of activity in surrounding areas. Finally, in the third year when his 
abilities decreased substantially, other areas of the brain were no longer able to compen-
sate and activity decreased overall. On the other hand, some areas of the brain—such as 
those involved in visual processing—did not change over the three-year period, illustrat-
ing that not all areas of the brain are aff ected by the disease. 
(Source: Maguire et al., 2010.)
Year 1
(a)
Year 2
Year 3
Areas involved in visual processing that do not change over time
(c)
(b)
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