Moya1

CasandraMoya
Psychology
Period:5
April21,2014

DiagnosisforLucy
"Thebestgiftsintheworldarenotinthematerialobjectsonecanbuyfromthestore,but
inthememorieswemakewiththepeoplewelove,"saidAmandaBorgarshinor.Thisquote
relatestothemovie,
50FirstDates
,becauseit'saboutaPlayboyvetHenrysetshishearton
romancingLucy,butshehasshorttermmemorylossshecan'trememberanythingthat
happenedthedaybefore.Soeverymorning,Henryhastowooheragain.Herfriendsandfamily
areveryprotective,andHenrymustconvincethemthathe'sinitforlove.WhatIwillbe
explaininginthisessayiswhatIwillbediagnosingLucywithacertainmemorylossoramnesia.
Thereisamemoryprocessbuttherearethreemainprocessesthatisinvolvedinthehuman
memoryareencoding,storage,andrecall.Howmemoryworksthoughiswhenrecallinga
memory,thebraincallsonthememorynetwork.Thehippocampusandotherpartsofthebrain
worktogetherandwillrebuildthememory.WhatLucyishavingisthatshehasamnesiaandshe
can'trememberanythingafterthedayoftheaccidenthappened.WhatLucyhasisAnterograde
Amnesiabecauseitisalossoftheabilitytocreatenewmemoriesaftertheeventthatcausedthe
Amnesia,thatwillleadtoapartialorcompletetorecalltherecentpast,whiletheoldmemories
beforetheaccidentremainintact.

Moya2

Inthemovie,thedoctorsdiagnosedLucywithasyndromecalledGoldfieldsSyndrome.
GoldfieldsSyndromesafictionalsyndromethattheymadeupwherememoryofeventsofthe
daywerenormal,butovernightalltheofthememorieswerelost.Thereisnotreatmentfor
GoldfieldsSyndrome,sinceitdoesn'treallyexist.Memorylossiswhenyoumaynottobeable
toremembernewevents,recalloneormorememoriesofthepastorevenboth.Alsomemory
lossmaybeforashorttimeandthenresolveoritmaynotgoaway,and,dependingonthecause,
itcangetworseovertime.
OneoftheelementsoftheLucythatshehasisthatsherememberseverythingbeforethe
accident.Shecantmakeanynewmemories,butforsomereasonshestartstorememberHenry.
Ithoughtthatherbrainstartedtorememberonlylittlemomentsfromthedaysshecant
remember,whilesleeping,sinceshewasdreamingabouthimanddrewallthosepicturesofhim.
Hesaid,Youerasedmefromyourmemoriesbecauseyouthoughtyouwereholdingmeback
fromhavingafullandhappylife.Yourethegirlofmydreams.Andapparently,Imtheman
ofyours..Shesaiditherselfthatshedidntknowwhohewas,butshekeptdreamingabouthim
anddrawingtheimageofhimeventhoughsheneverknewhim.Sheknewthatthispersonwas
someonetoher,shejustdidntknowwhattodowithitsoshejustdrewfrommemoriesshe
neverknewshehad.
TherearemanyreasonswhyIdiagnosisLucywithAnterogradeAmnesia.Anterograde
Amnesiaitisalossoftheabilitytocreatenewmemoriesaftertheeventthatcausedtheamnesia.
PeoplewithAnterogradeAmnesiamaythereforerepeatcommentsorquestionsseveraltimes,for
example,orfailtorecognizepeopletheymetjustminutesbefore.Anterogradeamnesiamaybe
druginducedoritmayfollowatraumaticbraininjuryorsurgeryinwhichthereisdamageto

Moya3

thehippocampusormedialtemporallobeofthebrain,oranacuteeventsuchasaconcussion,a
heartattack,oxygendeprivationoranepilepticattack.Lesscommonly,itcanalsobecausedby
shockoranemotionaldisorder.SinceLucywasinacaraccident,hittingatree,shewasinalot
ofshockwhileithappened,andshehitherwholeheadcausingthefullinjury,shegot
Anterogradeamnesia.Anterogradeamnesiahasthesamesymptomsaswhattheycalled
GoldfieldsSyndrome.Forexample,thelossoftheabilitytocreatenewmemories,leadingtoa
partialorcompleteinabilitytorecalltherecentpast,eventhoughlongtermmemoriesfrom
beforetheeventwhichcausedtheamnesiaremainintact.Peoplewiththissyndrome,theymay
beabletorememberorlearnhowtodothings,suchastalkingonthephoneorridingabicycle,
buttheymaynotrememberwhattheyhadeatenforlunchearlierthatday.
Lucywasinaterribleaccidentandshelosthermemory.Someonetoldherthatshewas
diagnosiswithGoldfieldSyndrome,whichdoesntexist.WhatIsaythatistheclosesttowhat
shehasitisAnterogradeamnesia.Anterogradeamnesiaitthelossoftheabilitytocreatenew
memories,eventhoughlongtermmemoriesfrombeforetheeventwhichcausedtheamnesia
remainintact.Inmyopinion,IreallydothatLucymightregainhermemory,notallofitthough.
Iknowthatsheisgettingsomeofhermemoriesthroughherdreams,anddaybydayshewill
rememberlittlebylittleandthenshewillregainitlaterinlife.Itwilltakesometime,butIam
positivethatshewillregainiteventually.

Moya4

Workcited
Mastin,Luke."AnterogradeAmnesiaMemoryDisordersTheHumanMemory."
Anterograde
AmnesiaMemoryDisordersTheHumanMemory
.TheHumanBrain,2010.Web.21
Apr.2016
Juan,Stephen."CouldDrewBarrymore'sMemoryLossin50FirstDatesReallyHappen?"

TheRegister
.Mimecast,6May2006.Web.21Apr.2016.

Campellone,JosephV.,M.D."MemoryLoss:MedlinePlusMedicalEncyclopedia."
U.S
NationalLibraryofMedicine
.U.S.NationalLibraryofMedicine,10Feb.2014.Web.21
Apr.2016.

Mastin,Luke."MemoryProcessesTheHumanMemory."
MemoryProcessesTheHuman
Memory
.TheHumanMemory,2010.Web.21Apr.2016.

HeadsqueezeTV."HowDoesYourMemoryWork?|HeadSqueeze."
YouTube
.YouTube,20
Feb.2014.Web.21Apr.2016.