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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
[Developmental amnesia as a focal cognitive sequela of a neonatal pathology]
Anna Sans1, Roser Colomé, Anna López-Sala
1Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. annasans@hsjdbcn.org
Introduction:
The developmental amnesia is a recently known entity that occurs as a consequence of hypoxic-ischemic events in the perinatal period. This is a specific deficit of episodic memory with greater preservation of semantic memory and other memory components such as the immediate and working memory. It occurs in patients without apparent neurological sequelae, with normal psychomotor development and general intelligence. The developmental amnesia has been associated with bilateral involvement of the hippocampus, which is evident in some cases on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as signal disturbance and signs of atrophy, or reduced size of the hippocampus in brain volumetric studies.
Patients And Methods:
We present six observations of developmental amnesia, their clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings.
Results:
All of them show impaired episodic memory with preservation of semantic memory, have a normal general intelligence and follow a regular school with special educational needs.
Conclusions:
It is necessary to keep in mind this entity in monitoring risk newborns by their perinatal history and include the exploration of memory in neuropsychological study of these subjects. On the other hand, we highlight the specificity of the clinical and neuropsychological profile for the diagnosis of developmental amnesia even in the absence of hippocampal lesions on conventional MRI.
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