Paula received a severe blow to the head in a car accident. What is the most reasonable explanation for her amnesia of what led up to the accident?
A) The information was not yet consolidated in long-term memory.
B) Working memory interfered with the long-term memory storage.
C) Semantic memory has been disrupted.
D) She has lost the use of her hippocampus; that is, she is like H. M. but not as severely impaired.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Amnesia following a brain injury is often due to disruption of the consolidation process, meaning that the new memories were not yet fully processed and stored in long-term memory before the injury occurred. This is particularly common with retrograde amnesia, which is the inability to remember events that occurred before the injury. In Paula's case, she likely did not have enough time to consolidate the memory of what led up to the accident, which is why she cannot recall it.

Paula Received a Severe Blow to the Head in a Car