Tweet
What causes it?
Brain imaging studies have shown developmental amnesia is linked to damage to the hippocampus, a structure in the brain that's known to be closely involved in long-term memory. It has been suggested the hippocampus is especially important to the memory of single events - so-called episodic memory.
In children with developmental amnesia, the hippocampus shows a loss in volume of 40 to 60 per cent on each side of the brain. There may be no obvious abnormalities in surrounding brain regions that are also important to long-term memory.
There's good reason to believe this type of brain damage can occur as a result of loss of oxygen to the brain. This could be caused by extreme prematurity or a difficult birth, long epileptic seizures or temporary arrest of the heartbeat.
This region of the brain is particularly vulnerable to loss of oxygen and is damaged permanently.
Top
What are the symptoms?
Children with developmental amnesia are often described as forgetful and unreliable. They frequently lose their belongings, forget to deliver messages, don't keep appointments, become easily lost and have problems finding their way in new surroundings, have difficulty remembering the plot and sequence of events in a novel or film and forget activities they've carried out in school on any given day.
As children become older and more demands are placed on their memory, they become increasingly dependent on others to help them to remember. However, they are relatively able to learn new facts and information.
Top
What's the treatment?
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust and the Institute of Child Health are working to identify the different aspects of developmental amnesia that respond to neuro-rehabilitation by implementing repetition techniques and other education-based training methods.
If you suspect your child has this type of memory problem, ask your GP or paediatrician for a referral to the neuropsychology service at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where a team of experts will be able to provide a diagnosis.
Brain imaging studies have shown developmental amnesia is linked to damage to the hippocampus, a structure in the brain that's known to be closely involved in long-term memory. It has been suggested the hippocampus is especially important to the memory of single events - so-called episodic memory.
In children with developmental amnesia, the hippocampus shows a loss in volume of 40 to 60 per cent on each side of the brain. There may be no obvious abnormalities in surrounding brain regions that are also important to long-term memory.
There's good reason to believe this type of brain damage can occur as a result of loss of oxygen to the brain. This could be caused by extreme prematurity or a difficult birth, long epileptic seizures or temporary arrest of the heartbeat.
This region of the brain is particularly vulnerable to loss of oxygen and is damaged permanently.
Top
What are the symptoms?
Children with developmental amnesia are often described as forgetful and unreliable. They frequently lose their belongings, forget to deliver messages, don't keep appointments, become easily lost and have problems finding their way in new surroundings, have difficulty remembering the plot and sequence of events in a novel or film and forget activities they've carried out in school on any given day.
As children become older and more demands are placed on their memory, they become increasingly dependent on others to help them to remember. However, they are relatively able to learn new facts and information.
Top
What's the treatment?
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust and the Institute of Child Health are working to identify the different aspects of developmental amnesia that respond to neuro-rehabilitation by implementing repetition techniques and other education-based training methods.
If you suspect your child has this type of memory problem, ask your GP or paediatrician for a referral to the neuropsychology service at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where a team of experts will be able to provide a diagnosis.