amnesia

/æmˈniʒə/

/æmˈnizjə/

Other forms: amnesias

When you have amnesia you can't remember what happened to you in the past. Amnesia is a total or partial memory loss.

Some causes of amnesia are brain injury, disease, drug or alcohol abuse, and the deterioration of the brain associated with old age or dementia. With amnesia, memory can be regained, or it can be lost forever. It can be complete, encompassing everything you ever knew, or it can be specific to a time such as the hours leading up to an accident or trauma. If you forget the meaning of a word, it's not amnesia, that's just the way the mind works sometimes.

Definitions of amnesia

1. noun

   partial or total loss of memory
   synonyms: blackout, memory loss

   types:

   anterograde amnesia, posttraumatic amnesia

   loss of memory for events immediately following a trauma; sometimes in effect for events during and for a long time following the trauma

   retrograde amnesia

   loss of memory for events immediately preceding a trauma

   forgetfulness

   tendency to forget

   selective amnesia

   amnesia about particular events that is very convenient for the person who cannot remember

   transient global amnesia

   memory disorder seen in middle aged and elderly persons; characterized by an episode of amnesia and bewilderment that lasts for several hours; person is otherwise alert and intellectually active

   senior moment

   a momentary lapse of memory (especially in older people)

   posthypnotic amnesia

   selective amnesia after being in a hypnotic state of events occurring during hypnosis or of information designated by the hypnotist

   type of:

   cognitive state, state of mind

   the state of a person's cognitive processes