Focal retrograde amnesia in neurological disease: a critical review

The condition of focal retrograde amnesia represents a new and challenging concept to our understanding of human memory disorders. Cases of both permanent and transient focal retrograde amnesia, dating from early clinical descriptions to more recent experimental reports, are critically reviewed. It is concluded that the condition of focal retrograde amnesia does represent a distinct and reliable neurological entity. Four sets of issues are discussed--methodological issues, conceptual issues, anatomical issues and therapeutic issues. Current evidence indicates an important role for temporal lobe structures in mediating focal retrograde amnesia. Both storage and retrieval deficits may contribute to the presence of focal retrograde amnesia, though available evidence points to a greater role for engram destruction/fragmentation rather than disruption of access mechanisms. In general, pharmacological and other therapies have had minimal effects in alleviating focal retrograde amnesia.