Overview. Amnesia refers to the loss of memories, such as facts, information and experiences. Though forgetting your identity is a common plot ...Scheduleyourappointmentnowforsafein-personcare.Learnmore:MayoClinicfactsaboutcoronavirusdisease2019(COVID-19)Our COVID-19patient andvisitorguidelines,plustrustedhealthinformationLateston COVID-19vaccination bysite:ArizonapatientvaccinationupdatesArizona,FloridapatientvaccinationupdatesFlorida,RochesterpatientvaccinationupdatesRochesterandMayoClinicHealthSystempatientvaccinationupdatesMCHSSkiptositenavigationSkiptoContentThiscontentdoesnothaveanEnglishversion.ThiscontentdoesnothaveanArabicversion.SectionsforAmnesiaSymptoms&causesDiagnosis&treatmentPrintOverviewAmnesiareferstothelossofmemories,suchasfacts,informationandexperiences.Thoughforgettingyouridentityisacommonplotdeviceinmoviesandtelevision,that'snotgenerallythecaseinreal-lifeamnesia.Instead,peoplewithamnesia—alsocalledamnesticsyndrome—usuallyknowwhotheyare.But,theymayhavetroublelearningnewinformationandformingnewmemories.Amnesiacanbecausedbydamagetoareasofthebrainthatarevitalformemoryprocessing.Unlikeatemporaryepisodeofmemoryloss(transientglobalamnesia),amnesiacanbepermanent.There'snospecifictreatmentforamnesia,buttechniquesforenhancingmemoryandpsychologicalsupportcanhelppeoplewithamnesiaandtheirfamiliescope.Products&ServicesBook:MayoClinicFamilyHealthBook,5thEditionNewsletter:MayoClinicHealthLetter—DigitalEditionShowmoreproductsfromMayoClinicSymptomsThetwomainfeaturesofamnesiaare:Difficultylearningnewinformationfollowingtheonsetofamnesia(anterogradeamnesia)Difficultyrememberingpasteventsandpreviouslyfamiliarinformation(retrogradeamnesia)Mostpeoplewithamnesiahaveproblemswithshort-termmemory—theycan'tretainnewinformation.Recentmemoriesaremostlikelytobelost,whilemoreremoteordeeplyingrainedmemoriesmaybespared.Someonemayrecallexperiencesfromchildhoodorknowthenamesofpastpresidents,butnotbeabletonamethecurrentpresident,knowwhatmonthitisorrememberwhatwasforbreakfast.Isolat