3 Questions: Suzanne Corkin on the world’s most famous amnesic

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 - 05:35 in Psychology & Sociology

H.M., the well-known amnesic patient whose condition helped scientists understand memory and memory impairment, died a year ago at the age of 82. H.M. (whose full name, Henry Gustav Molaison, was disclosed only after his death) suffered from an unusual condition as a result of brain surgery to treat his epilepsy: He was unable to form new long-term memories. Before his death, H.M. and his guardian agreed that his brain would be donated to scientists for future study. MIT Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Suzanne Corkin studied H.M. during his life and is now part of a team that will be analyzing H.M.’s brain starting this week. In this interview, she explains H.M.’s impact on understanding how memory works.Q. In life, what were the most important contributions H.M. made to understanding human memory and brain function?A. H.M. illuminated the science of memory. His brain damage was deep in both...

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