Definitions for "Retrograde amnesia"
Loss of memory of events prior to onset of anmesia. A component of Korsakoff's "psychosis" but also seen after transient disturbances of brain function with little or no permanent damage. Compare to anterograde amnesia.
The condition in which people lose past memories, such as memories for events, facts, people, or even personal information. go to glossary index
The period of amnesia for events before the injury. This is almost always much less than the period of POST TRAUMATIC AMNESIA (qv) and is not as good a predictor of outcome as PTA. However, given that there is a period of RA and PTA where significant head injury occurs, it means that the patient will not remember the moment of impact nor, usually, the events leading up to it. Due to RA (and also PTA), it is rare to find POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (qv) after brain injury.