This video was made possible by WIX. If you’re ready to create a website, head
over to wix.com/go/infographics2019 to try out one of their premium plans right now. Memories have brought us to where we are and
allow us to anticipate where we’ll go next. But what if we had none and, further, couldn’t
make any? What if we were drifting in decades of darkness
with no idea what happened last or what was soon to come? Memories are what anchor us in time and to
the people around us; without them, we become lonely, lost, and confused. For Clive Wearing, amnesia is living death. Learn about his burden with the worst case
of amnesia ever in this episode of The Infographics Show, The Man With the 30 Second Memory. To understand the life of Clive Wearing, we
must first understand memory. It begins with what we experience. While we interact with the world around us,
the neurons, or nerve cells of our brains, are busy firing away to make sense of what
we touch, taste, hear, feel, and see. And, it turns out, these cells play a crucial
role in our ability to remember these later on. When electrodes were placed on the brains
of study subjects as they watched part of a show, for instance, firing from one neuron
to another could be seen in the hippocampus and cortex of their brains. When the subjects later recalled the show,
it reactivated the neurons that had fired as they watched it the first time. It is believed we must recall past events
to strengthen neural pathways, or they will not transfer well to long-term memory. On the other hand, if we do revisit an event,
it will become both vivid and rich in detail as well as easy to recollect. The same is true for the brain in general,
as it made up of muscle. If it’s used often it grows strong; in absence
of exercise, it grows weak. Of course, over time, like the other muscles
in the body, its function will decline as part of the natural course of life. However, while slowed activity or lapses in
memory can be normal with age, a drastic loss of days to years of our past is not. Neither is the inability to remember anything
new. Sometimes this happens when things go wrong
in the brain, particularly with the hippocampus or cortex. The hippocampus sits in the temporal lobe,
deep within the center of the brain and helps with the formation of memory. In addition to this, the hippocampus is where
conversion from short-term to long-term memory takes place. However, it is in the cortex where long-term
memories are stored. As a result, damage to the hippocampus may
prevent new memories from being made while damage to the cortex impacts memories made
before. The damage to these structures or the areas
immediately around them may result in a condition called amnesia. All kinds of amnesia are characterized by
some type of memory loss. Some may be unable to recall past memories,
others may fail to make new memories, and many have a limited to nonexistent concept
of the future. Things that are forgotten include details
of what they have done, things that have taken place, people they knew or loved, and facts
they learned or were taught. Often, despite this, most retain a basic understanding
of who they are and can still perform procedural functions, such as riding a bicycle. Language ability is often intact as well. However, symptoms vary by individual and circumstance
as well as the type of amnesia involved. There are several kinds, including retrograde
and anterograde amnesia, among others. Retrograde amnesia is a loss of the past. Often, not all memories vanish completely;
generally, the most recent ones are lost while older ones may either remain, or in the case
of a degenerative condition, are the last to disappear. This phenomenon is known as Ribot’s Law. It takes place because newer memories have
weaker connections, while older memories have had more time to be recalled and grow stronger. Those with this condition may still make new
memories despite their inability to recall the past before the brain injury took place. Semantics are often preserved, such as what
color is which or what word means what and skills or procedural abilities may remain
as well. Events that took place, or episodic memories,
however, will be forgotten. Retrograde amnesia does not occur because
of damage to the hippocampus but to the prefrontal cortex or other locations where long-term
memories are sometimes stored. Causes of retrograde amnesia include hitting
the head, having a stroke, periods without oxygen, growths in the brain, brain infection,
or alcohol abuse. In the case of Harrison Ford, engine failure
and a subsequent plane crash left him with serious injuries requiring hospitalization. He could not explain what had happened before
the crash due to the loss of memories surrounding the event. Because he could not remember what took place
prior to getting hurt, but continues to know what happened after, this would be an instance
of retrograde amnesia. Another well-known individual, Scott Bolzan,
suffered from retrograde amnesia as well. In fact, his is one of the most severe cases
ever known. After falling and hitting his head 46 years
of his memories were erased. However, though past memories will likely
stay lost, he can make new ones today and from now on. Anterograde amnesia is different from retrograde
amnesia as it is a loss of one’s present. Those with this condition can no longer make
memories of what is happening and therefore have no recollection of what just took place. This amnesia is due to problems with the making
and then storing of memories and often involves the hippocampus. Memories that are lost because of anterograde
amnesia are mostly based on fact, and many will retain procedures or skills. Further, the ability of those with anterograde
amnesia to remember long-term memories often remains unchanged. Anterograde amnesia occurs for many reasons. It may be the result of a concussion or physical
damage as well as oxygen deprivation, epilepsy, or emotional trauma. It may also develop because of benzodiazepine
drugs, alcohol, or injury to the hippocampus or medial temporal lobe. Oddly enough, it has been caused by a root
canal as well. Such was the case of Patient WO. This man was unable to make new memories after
the procedure, and is stuck in March of 2005, on the day of his visit to the dentist. While this cannot be easily explained, some
believe his neurons were negatively impacted in some way. Another man, known as Patient EP, developed
anterograde amnesia as well. His was the result of a viral infection that
led to widespread inflammation and the destruction of his hippocampus. As a result, he could form no more memories. While retrograde or anterograde amnesia are
devastating enough on their own, Clive Wearing has both. In fact, Clive has what has been defined as
the worst case of amnesia ever known. He was once a successful musicologist, pianist,
and conductor until March of 1985. This was when he came down with an infection
known as herpes encephalitis. The virus caused massive damage throughout
his brain and, unfortunately, he has not been the same since. While Clive can understand what he sees and
hears, their meaning is lost in an instant. His memory, which ranges from seven to thirty
seconds, is a moment in time, sometimes spanning the space of two blinks of an eye. When he speaks, he will have forgotten the
sentence that came before; if he answers a question, by the time he’s done he will
have forgotten what he was responding to. He has next to no recollections at all, though
he has mentioned some childhood events as well as some things he remembers as a student
in school. Both were long ago. Before the present moment there are just decades
of nothing; only darkness and a blank void. In fact, Clive believes that before now he
was unconscious, in a coma, or for all intents and purposes, dead. To find some continuity in his life he started
a journal hoping it would help. But minute by minute he would write “I am
awake” or “I am conscious” or “This time properly awake” or “this time completely
awake” while crossing out the entry from before. It did not take him long to create hundreds
and hundreds of such pages. Clive cannot make inferences to fill in the
blanks or recognize words in his own writing that he made moments ago himself. In moments of despair he has told his wife
Deborah that he is entirely incapable of thought. Over time Clive’s mood has improved, though
his condition has not. While he may alternate between happiness and
depression, during the worst of times his complaint is the same: that he hasn’t heard
anything, seen anything, touched anything, or smelled anything that he can remember. He says life is like a long night spanning
years without an end and without him being conscious of anything in it. But he has found joy at times through his
music and through the love he still feels for his wife. His wife Deborah is the only person he can
recognize, though he cannot recall her name. Each time he sees her, he gets overjoyed as
he believes that it has been years. When she leaves he has been known to call
her more than once on her way home asking her to visit, forgetting she just has. Yet their love endures, strong as it ever
was, despite it all. The reasons for this are somewhat of a mystery,
as emotional memory is not well understood. To Clive, it is a much needed gift. In an existence like death, Deborah gives
him life. It is Deborah who is his one and only joy
apart from music, a passion they both always have and will continue to share. An former pianist, when Clive is asked if
he can play a song, he will respond that he cannot and never has. However, when at the piano he can play and
do so well. Similarly, though he cannot tell you how to
get to his home he can unbuckle his seatbelt indicating that he knows he is near. He knows his way around his home and can even
prepare a beverage to enjoy. But unless he is actually doing these things,
he is unaware he can and could not explain them if he was asked. Clive is a man who is lost in time; with little
to no knowledge of his past and who forgets his present virtually as it takes place. Retrograde and anterograde amnesia have trapped
him in only a sliver of consciousness. However, love endures and he holds tightly
on to his wife and to his music as a source of comfort. Without these he is lost without a past in
an ever-changing and confusing present and with more of the same to come. Unfortunately, Clive was not the first to
suffer both the loss of his past and an inability to remember his present. Patient HM, famous among the medical community,
had these difficulties too. He was 27 years old when he underwent surgery
for seizures and the hippocampus from each temporal lobe was removed. Afterwards, he could make no new memories. He also lost his memories of the past but
this was thought to be due to his seizures and use of antiepileptic drugs. Like Clive, he forgot who he was talking to
or what about almost right away. While he could both draw and practice drawing
to improve, he wasn’t aware he had drawn before, much like Clive and his ability to
play the piano though he was unaware that he knew how. While Clive could remember some of his childhood,
the same was true for Patient HM. In this instance he was stuck at the age of
16. Mentally, he remained that old until he died. The importance of memories is clear. If structures of the brain are damaged enough
it will impact our lives forever. We may, in fact, believe we are no longer
really living at all. Due to his amnesia, Clive exists in an often-empty
world yet has periods of joy as well as distress. A thirty second memory sounds terrible, but
did you know that you have even less time than that to make an impact on a visitor to
your website and actually be remembered? Never fear, because Wix is here to make sure
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by visiting the link in the description or going to wix.com/go/infographics2019. With his wife and his music, what do you think
of Clive’s quality of life? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called What If You Smoke 1000 Cigarettes At the Same Time! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
