Question

Who was HM, what happened to him, and how was our knowledge of learning and memory increased because of his life story? 400-500 words please

Answer 1

Many students of psychology know HM in various studies of memory and learning. The full name of HM was Henry Molaison.

Henry Molaison was 27 years old and suffered from epileptic seizures for long. For the treatment,  a neurosurgeon William Beecher Scoville did a surgery in which HM lost his memory in Hartford in August 1953 in that surgery neurosurgeon suctioned out the part of the brain known as hippocampus that located in the temporal lobe. During surgery, Henry didn't notice that his memory vanishing as the operation proceeded. The operation of successful and Henry got relieved from seizures but he lost memory. When William Beecher Scoville noticed that Henry got amnesia he transferred him to other neurosurgeons, they assessed him. Until then nobody knows that memories stored by the hippocampus and memories lost if it removed or damaged. As soon as they know it, the results of this operation publicized worldwide so removal of both hippocampus never is done again.

Henry was important for the knowledge and information he gave about memory impairment and amnesia as well as his exact brain surgery provided a good knowledge of how specific areas of the brain may be associated with particular functions in memory formation.