Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories after an injury, while old memories stay intact.

Patient H.M.

The canonical case, following hippocampal damage. Could recall his childhood but couldn’t learn the name of someone he’d just met.

Contrasts with Retrograde Amnesia (losing memories from before the injury). The two can co-occur but are separable, evidence that storing new memories and retrieving old ones are different operations.