Henry Molaison

• How did Henry Molaison get his seizures?

  He fell off his bike when he was younger
• What did Dr Scoville propose to fix Henry's seizures?

  Remove the Hippocampus
• Why was this procedure on Henry's brain dangerous? What did it lead to?

  The procedure still in infancy, which led to Dr Scoville removing both halves of the Hippocampus
• What happened after the procedure?

  Henry's epileptic seizures disappeared, however he could now no longer form long term memories
• What example proves Henry's LTM (Long Term Memory) was damaged?

  When his memory was assessed in 1955, he believed it 1953 and that he was 27 years old (He was actually 31)
• Despite not having a Long Term Memory after he had the procedure, what did he still have?


  Memories up until before the procedure and STM (Short Term Memory)
• How did people know he had good STM?

  He performed well in tests of Immediate Memory Span, a measure of STM
• What does the case of Henry Molaison suggest about memory?

  • There are two memory stores - LTM and STM
  • It is possible to damage one of these stores and not the other