Introduction
“Clive Wearing Living Without Memory” is a documentary that explains Clive’s life and his struggle with a memory that cannot last for more than a few seconds. Clive was a talented British musicologist and composer who concentrated on choral music. In 1985, Clive contracted a viral infection in his brain called herpes simplex encephalitis. Notably, the virus harmed Clive’s hippocampus, a portion of the brain that is critical in creating new memories, resulting in severe and irreversible memory loss. This paper focuses on the documentary and seeks to explain Clive’s day-to-day life and interactions with others, especially his wife, Deborah.
Challenges of Daily Life
Clive Wearing’s amnesia has made it difficult for him to experience a typical day-to-day life like other people or even interact well with others. For instance, Clive has trouble figuring out his environment, recollecting his family members, and identifying them (Clive Wearing Living Without Memory). This trouble is evident in Clive’s reactions to his wife, Deborah, in which he is frequently surprised and perplexed at her sight. However, despite his condition, Clive often declares his love for Deborah, which has positively impacted their relationship, encouraging her to continue being dedicated to Clive’s care. Clive’s intense emotional reaction to his wife is attributed to his memory loss being selective, as he still remembers particular recollections of her.
The Role of Clive’s Journal
In the documentary, Clive maintains a detailed journal about his memory loss for several purposes. Most importantly, he uses the journal to record his life by writing down his ideas and experiences. Furthermore, he uses it to get a structure and routine for his life, such as recording what he does and at what time. The journal aids Clive in coping with memory loss as it helps him maintain a sense of identity and continuity in his life. However, whenever he relooks at his entries, Clive struggles to recognize their ingenuity, and thus, he frequently cancels them out because he feels that he was unconscious when he wrote them.
Retaining Musical Skills
Although Clive cannot retrieve or form new memories, it is surprising that he can still remember to perform tasks such as playing the piano. From the documentary, this ability can be attributed to his passion and training as a musician, enabling him to retain the skills even in memory loss. Additionally, it is evident that Clive has lost his declarative memory but retained the procedural one, and thus, he still remembers the motor skills required when playing the piano. This situation implies that procedural memory is stored differently in the brain from declarative memory.
Types of Amnesia
Two major forms of memory loss caused by brain damage include anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is the difficulty forming new memories after contracting amnesia, causing patients to struggle to recall recent information. In contrast, retrograde amnesia is characterized by the loss of memories that were created before being struck by amnesia (Montag 746198). The documentary illustrates that Clive suffers from anterograde and retrograde amnesia since he cannot recall most memories or even form new ones.
Insights from Clive’s Case
Research on Clive Wearing has significantly aided our knowledge of the structure and function of memory in the brain. Researchers discovered the brain areas needed for different forms of memory and the neural circuits involved in memory creation and retrieval. In addition, other cases of severe amnesias, such as that of Henry Molaison (H.M.), have also greatly informed our understanding of memory function in the brain. Research on Molaison’s brain helped clarify the prefrontal cortex’s role in working memory (Milani 9). Despite his profound amnesia, H.M. possessed intact working memory, indicating that the prefrontal cortex is essential in this memory function.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the Clive Wearing documentary provides a fascinating insight into the effects of amnesia on an individual’s life. Clive’s profound memory loss has significantly impacted his daily activities and relationships, leaving him with only a few seconds of conscious memory at any given time. Despite this, Clive’s ability to play the piano, his passion for music, and his wife’s support have enabled him to maintain some sense of identity and purpose.
Works Cited
“Clive Wearing Living Without Memory.” YouTube, uploaded by Mike Forte. 2013. Web.
Milani, L. “The incredible case of Henry Molaison− The amnesiac we will not forget.” BDNF – Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor – An extraordinary and powerful master regulator of the brain. Physiological Regulating Medicine. 2022, pp. 3-14. Web.
Montag, Dirk. “Retrograde Amnesia–A Question of Disturbed Calcium Levels?” Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, vol 15, 2021. Web.