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memory loss
whats it called when you have a big hit to the head and it gives you memory loss of just a few months pryer to the accident? like say i got in a car accident hit my head, what part of my brain would it hit? and what would the temp memory loss be of?
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When you hit your head its a concussion. When you suffer memory loss from it, it is called Amnesia.
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thats called a concushan
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it's called amnesia, but that's all i know
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Memory is a tricky thing, and we don't understand it perfectly, so I want you to really understand that what I explain below is just two ways that an accident might be forgotten.
When someone has had a severe physical trauma, particularly one that knocks them old cold, the transfer of the memory from short-term to the long-term memory part of your brain seems to get interrupted, and the memory is lost. That is called post-traumatic amnesia. If that is the case, there is NO memory, and it can never resurface or be retrieved in any way at all. Sometimes people believe they have retrieved the memory through hypnosis, but there is no scientific reason to believe that is true and lots of evidence that hypnosis CREATES a memory, not retrieves it. Loosing your memory like this seems to generally only remove a few hours before the accident, and maybe a few afterwards.
A repressed memory is different then the above (it can also be called motivated forgetting) because the memory does in fact exist in the brain, but you can't access it. The is not believed to be because of any head trauma (i.e., you don't have to be knocked unconscious to have a repressed memory, because it has nothing to do with brain damage, unlike the situation above, where you pretty much need to hit your head to interrupt the memory transfer). The theory repressed memories have NOT been completely accepted by doctors, or definitely proven to exist. Some very smart doctors think it doesn't actually happen, but others say it's part of the way a normal healthy brain deals with traumatic events, by removing them from our immediate awareness. There really is no 'time limit' on repressed memories on how long a time they can take up.
So there ya go. Those are two possibilities, but neither of them are perfect explinations. There is still a lot to learn about the human brain and how it works.
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