KORSAKOFF'S SYNDROME

also called Korsakoff's psychosis, or Korsakoff's disease neurological disorder characterized by severe amnesia (memory loss) present in a background of clear perception and full consciousness. Many cases result from severe chronic alcoholism, while others are due to a variety of toxic or infectious brain illnesses, severe head injury, or a thiamine deficiency. Patients with Korsakoff's syndrome typically are unable to remember events in the recent or even the immediate past, and some can store information for only a few seconds before they forget it. The patient may also have forgotten a much longer time period in his life, extending back for as many as 20 years. Another feature that is sometimes present is confabulation; i.e., the patient recounts detailed and convincing memories of events that never happened. Korsakoff's syndrome is often a transient manifestation of some other brain disorder, but some cases are chronic. See also memory.