Anterograde and retrograde mnemonic deficits after unilateral damage of neostriatal, ventral striatal and basal forebrain structures

Abstract

Abstract A 51-year-old male patient (BL) was investigated three years after an intracerebral haemorrhage in the region of the left basal ganglia, resulting in unilateral damage of neostrlatum, ventral striatum, globus pallidus, and basal forebrain. BL manifested average Intelligence, somewhat sub-average attention and working memory, severe anterograde amnesia, and time-limited deficits in autobiographical memory (past decade) and Impaired recall of famous events (especially earller decades). The results are interpreted as supportive of a network of memory-associated regions in which the basal ganglia may take part. They are also considered to be lndicative of a hemispheric-specific recall of old episodic and semantic memories.