Short-term memory loss is the inability to form and retain short-term memories, affecting a person’s ability to remember information for a few seconds or minutes. It can be caused by head injuries, diseases, or drugs. Memory aids can help cope with reduced memory, but anterograde amnesia, where new memories are lost and cannot be transferred to long-term memory, can make it difficult to learn new information or retain memories.
Short-term memory loss is a condition in which a person is completely or partially unable to form and retain short-term memories. Symptoms of short-term memory loss, therefore, involve a person’s decreased ability to remember information for a few seconds or minutes. In some cases, the symptoms involve only a decrease in what the individual can remember in the short term and have little to do with long-term memory. In other cases, such as anterograde amnesia, the person is unable to form any new memories, thus also affecting long-term memory. Either way, short-term memory loss tends to be a severely debilitating condition that negatively affects all aspects of life.
People with short-term memory loss typically have a reduction in the “capacity” of their short-term memory. This type of memory can generally hold five to nine distinct pieces of information, such as numbers or words. An individual with short-term memory loss, therefore, may not be able to remember as many different pieces of information, or may not be able to remember it for as long as a person with a fully functional memory. It is possible, however, that it will still, over time, be able to transfer items from short-term memory to long-term memory. While it can be difficult to cope with such reduced memory, it is still possible to function in work and personal life, especially through the use of memory aids such as frequently writing notes about things to remember.
In some cases, short-term memory loss means that new memories are simply “lost” and cannot be transferred to long-term memory. This is referred to as anterograde amnesia and is characterized by the inability to form new memories. Information, such as names, faces, phone numbers and dates, enters short-term memory but is lost over time as new information replaces it. It can be much more difficult to live with memory loss of this type, as it is essentially impossible to learn new information or retain memories.
These different short-term memory loss symptoms can stem from a variety of different sources. Head injuries, such as from car accidents or falls, can cause such effects on memory. A variety of diseases can also cause memory problems. Some drugs also affect memory, although their effects tend to be acute and may pass over time.
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