Multiple memory systems
Declarative vs procedural dissociations from lesions.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Research80
Awareness55
Complexity60
Clinical weight50
Plasticity45
Live debate40
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Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
Who was patient H.M. in Milner story?
Henry Molaison (1953 bilateral medial temporal surgery). He lost new episodic memory while retaining skills — the dissociation that remade memory science.
What year marks Scoville and Milner report?
1957. The paper tied hippocampal removal to anterograde amnesia without collapsing language or IQ in the teaching summary.
What did mirror-tracing show?
H.M. improved at mirror-tracing across days without remembering the sessions — procedural skill without episodic recall.
Is this a clinical guide to epilepsy surgery?
No. History of published cognitive neuroscience. Not medical advice, diagnosis, or surgical counsel.
Where did Milner work for decades?
Montreal Neurological Institute — careful testing, frontal-lobe work, and mentorship alongside the H.M. archive.
What atlas regions pair with her lesson?
Hippocampus (memory index) and frontal lobes (control). Use dual-view; do not invent a personal lesion map.
Milner’s work turned lesion cases into systems neuroscience: dissociations became maps of memory kinds.
Educational history of neuroscience — not medical advice. Patient identities and clinical details are discussed at the level of published science.
Pillars
Patient H.M.
Landmark medial temporal amnesia case.
Careful behavioural testing
Tasks that expose what casual talk misses.
Ethics of irreversible surgery
Consent, anonymity and cognitive risk lessons.
Key facts
1953 surgery / 1957 report
Scoville & Milner link MTL resection to recent-memory loss.
Mirror drawing
H.M. improved skill without recalling prior sessions.
Montreal Neurological Institute
Career home for decades of patient-based science.
Frontal contributions
Extended work beyond MTL into frontal strategy and memory.
Mentorship legacy
Trained generations of neuropsychologists.
Identity after death
H.M. named Henry Molaison — ethics of anonymity evolved.
Pair with Hippocampus, Memory, H.M. legacy and Frontal pages.
Sources & research
- Loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesionsLandmark H.M. memory loss report.DOI
- The legacy of patient H.M. for neuroscienceLegacy review of patient H.M.DOI
- Cognitive neuroscience and the study of memoryCognitive neuroscience of memory synthesis.DOI
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