He has a short term memory but can't create long term memories. Very sad... Yes he had viral encephalitis that damaged his hippocampus, the brain area involved in LTM formation.
If there was a film about Clive Wearing, I think british actor Hugh Grant should make an excellent choice to play the amnesia afflicted musician. Olivia Williams (the 6th sense) would portray his wife Deborah.
I hear they try to keep mirrors away from people with andrograde amnesia, but when patients see their hands it can trigger repetitive freakouts. They never knew they aged
When he is talking about his Children, it's rather haunting when he says 'I have no idea. *I don't know where I am*' That's utterly terrifying to me: to constantly be unaware of where you are, means you may not be safe...who's house is this? Why am I here? Scary.
lol if he smoked copious amounts of weed he would be in eternal bliss. thats really cool that the important things stick like he knows he has kids. to some degree i think he may be faking.
no he does not know that he has kids. Check the dialogue again. He only knows how to play the piano and can "recognize" his wife. These are areas of the brain that are not affected by the amnesia; the piano skills essentially come from established neural connections that are separate from the memory areas. Thus, you can know how to play but not remember how. Also, his long time love still exists, and he knows he has a connection with this women but doesnt kno who she is.
@tshenvideos perhaps you should check the dialogue again. Wife: "I'm going to see your kids tomorrow" and his reaction "what are they up to now" shows that he knows he has children, but he doesn't know what they're doing these days. I'm not dismissing everything else you're saying, and I'm not agreeing with gmikoner but he does know he has children.
Sure, that shows his ability to carry on a conversation. He is able to take pieces of what is told to him and can construct a sensible reply. But, the fact that he "knows" his children is another matter. I'll bet if she asks him if he has any children, he would say he did not know. Being able to carry on a conversation is different than being able to retain that conversation. Perhaps if he said "He's an engineer, isn't he" then that would show previous knowledge.
@jessicawalker100 Human beings have two basic needs. One of which is the need to be accurate. Patients with short term memory issues tend to confabulate or make up stories as a defense mechanism. His wife's statement of "I'm going to see your kids tomorrow" is pretty suggestive, implanting the idea that he does have kids. Rather than admiting he can't remember his kids, he plays along. Or he was able to access long term memories of them as children.
Continuing, this man has been studied by neuroscientists all over the world and has been confirmed to have the shortest memory ever. This guy DID have a life before the accident, and the accident severly impaired his ability to form memory connections. I think that if he was faking it would be EXTREMELY difficult and would have been caught long ago.
@JakeGuitar666 You are right he does retain some things (ex. wife). Also, the ability to play the piano, but this is a procedural memory so not quite the same as his memory of his wife (episodic / semantic). Procedural memories are stored in a different area (unconscious of them as well). Short term memory = WM is what keeps you in the "now." He is in the "now" but has no way to store new info, right? Therefore, he lacks LTM (or rather the ability to store new episodic and procedural memories).
What I don't understand ishow this man who can supposedly never retain any of his stm react to questions like "do you know what your children are doing" in a way like hes been talking about them for the past five minutes.
I have no doubt that this man has amnesia of some kind, but I would think that when he was posed with such a question he would either:
1. React accurately to how he was prior to his amnesia onset
or 2. Realise that this kind of question puzzles him and react accordingly (upset)
@mojonotsag Oh right, How long have you been a practitioner in psychology? Because surely only someone with qualifications and authority over the matters would give something that could be mistaken for ignorance.
@MrSimmonds123 In the same way thatyou accused me of assuming what Im saying to be right, you assumed yourself that Im not a practitioner in psychology. Now, while you happen to be correct in your assumption, Ill tell you Im studying my second year in psychology at uni, havingbeen recommended this videoby my lecturer.SO it seems probable(if we were to play your assumption game again)that I might know a little bit more than you about this.Also, i was asking an open question you illiterate fuck :)
@mojonotsag Lol, so I was right then? And also sorry if I sounded hostile :L but I don't think I was "illiterate(?)" And I hope that you DON'T take a career in psychology, because you could have said all of that without the swearing at the end; I'm pretty sure you have to be fairly caring/open to people's thoughts. I am genuinely sorry though, for misreading what you meant by your questions, I thought you were being purposefully ignorant.
@mojonotsag thank you for your apology, and I apologise for my final comment. You can attribute that part of my response to A responding in kind to aggressive comments on the internet and B Me quite enjoying arguing on youtube. I called you illiterate because even after showing my brother what you had written we still could not garner what you were accusing me of. And also because it seemed that you had totally misread my comment. Also be glad I'm not interested in the clinical aspect ;)
I was blown away when my instructor showed Clive Wearing's case in my Biological Psych class last year. Very tragic, but amazing how his wife has remained committed to him (although I did hear they divorced and remarried at one point).
I had this once for 1 day. When I regained my memory I became conscious. Nothing from when my memory was lost was retained. He is effectively dead and the last 20 years never happened.
I do know that at one point Clive's amnesia came all too much for his wife so she moved away to live in America. However she has now come back and still sees him often.
Clive has complete anterograde amnesia, this is the loss of the ability to create new memories after his illness in 1985- he also has partial retrograde amnesia, this means that much of his past has been forgotten as well. It's not like when most people walk into a room and they forget what they came for. Every thirty seconds or so his consciousness resets entirely so there's nothing but void before it. "It's been like death, I've never seen a human being before- never had a dream or a thought."
The truly terrifying reality of his condition is that, from his perspective, he will have lived only 20 - 30 seconds after his amnesia initially took hold, then, he'll die. In other words his last 20-30 seconds alive will be the only morsel of life he will really experience.
So for all the people saying this is beautiful, its hard to think of something further from beautiful than this mans condition. Any joy he feels, is quickly dissolved into an eternity of nothingness.
@bryansteeksma indeed a very deep, yet dark view of his condition. but just look at that joy he feels when he sees his wife, his love! i think thats what should sum up his condition
@The4LA2Baker0 If they are continuously filming, he would remember it as it would stay in his short term memory, but the next day when they came back to film, he wouldn't remember as he can't store memories as long term, nor retrieve them - basically he remembers how to do things, i.e. music, but events, he can't recall. Like he remembers he's married, but not his marriage.
he has concocted an illness in which he doesn't have to listen to his wife and isnt accountable for what she tells him. And he gets to sit around the house and hang out while his wife goes to work.
my dad just had a stroke 3 weeks ago and is now exactly like this guy. basically every 30 seconds his short term memory wipes clean and he thinks he is just waking up from a coma in the hospital. he just keeps asking the same questions over and over. he just lives in a continuous cycle. trust me to see my dad like that is very sad he is basically dead.
You guys say that this is sad, Oh poor thing...well at least he's happy to see his Wife every single day and has the talent to play Piano. He doesn't need a great memory, he is fine the way he is. How many smart educated people nowadays appreciate the smaller things in life?
@hgchjk You don't need any memory to know void, the absence of all things. He has had a thought and a dream but he has no way of permanently encoding this- if a tree falls in the forest but no one is around does it make a noise?
Clive wearing had a virus that went to his brain and damaged his hippocampus( which is responsible for creating new memories) the doctors removed it and now he cannot form new memories...all the old ones that happened before his virus he can remember, this is why he can remember his wife! but once she ages he wont be able to remember her cause he can only remember what she looked like before and cant process what she will look like when she ages! I had to study him, thats why i know.
he's also a good case for the differentiation of implicit and explicit memory functions. hence he can still play piano, but can't remember that he can!
One really amazing thing to notice is that compared to the early videos of his illness, he seems to have improved greatly over the years. He's much more articulate and seems a lot less confused and frightened by the world around him.
Title is wrong. Clive has a short term memory. He's just unable to transfer new events from his short term into his long term--AMNESIA
The hippocampus is responsible for encoding new memories into the long term, but Clive's was extemely damaged by his illness (herpes). The hippocampus is also suggested by research to be incharge of retrieving episodic memory as well. This explains both his anterograde AND retrorgrade amnesia.
retro- means before and antero- means after. Since you now know that, retrograde amnesia is when you some or maybe all memory BEFORE the incident that caused the amnesia. Retrograde amnesia has two forms: graded and ungraded. Graded Retrograde Amnesia allows earlier memories to recalled but memories closer to the causing event to be more difficult to recall. So, one with this could probably remember more about his/her childhood than what they did a week before the incident. (TBC)
(cont.) Ungraded Retrograde Amnesia causes all memories to be forgotten.
In Anterograde Amnesia, the person is unable to convert events from the short-term memory into the long term memory. Thus, the person is unable to make new memories, but technically still able to recall previous memories.
Anterograde Amnesia is the most common of the two; however, anterograde amnesia is most frequently seen with some degree of retrograde amnesia. It is very rare to see a plain case of retrograde.
(Cont. x2) Clive is an example of Anterograde Amnesia. He is constantly forgetting things that happen to him minutes ago because the information is transfered out of his short term and is gone because the damage to his hippocampus.
He also has trouble remembering his past before his illness. This is because of the retrograde amnesia that we usually see with those who have anterograde amnesia. The only one he seems to remember is his wife.
(cont. x 3) Retrograde and Anterograde are usually caused by 3 things: head injury , Korsakoffs syndrome, or electroconvulsive therapy (aka electroshock or ACT)
Do not confuse these with Dissociative amnesia. Dissociative amnesia is a psychological issue unlike retro and anterograde which are physiological. Dissociative amnesia is a defensive mechanism triggered by a high stress situation. Retro and Anterograde amnesia are caused by damage to the hippocampus and/or the temporal lobe.
In the case of dissociative vs retrograde amnesia, how would you tell which is which? If someone had a head injury, during a period of high-stress/emotional trauma, and has very sparse memories for several years surrounding the incident, how would you know if it was physical, or psychological? Is it possible that retrograde could only effect certain kinds of memories? Can brain damage effect the kind of information which can be retained? Like recognition, mathematical, verbal, written etc?
And to answer your question, no it would fee like forever. People normally do exactly the same thing as clive, except some of our 'new' information is transferred and processed into long term memory. His life is just a constant uninterrupted flow of 30 second intervals that he isnt aware of.
Actually, it would be the opposite of feeling like an eternity. Every moment to him is like the first moment of his life. Like suddenly coming into existence. Sad, but I don't think it's like a lingering suffering to him.
The title is wrong. Clive ONLY has short term memory, he lacks the ability to form new LONG TERM memories. The reverse of the title given to this vid.
"Now his wife, Debrah, is the only person he recognises" - Narrator
"It's been like death, i've never seen a human being before" - Clive
We learnt in AS Psychology he's unable to encode new long term memories, but i think there must be more than that... there are other hints from the video that there must be something else going on.
@ThreadyCashdrummer01 Which means he has lost the ability to create new long term memories. "Short term memory" refers to time spans of about 30 seconds or so, or the ability to immediately repeat back information.
@The4LA2Baker0 In my original comment, my idea of the reverse of the title would be "The man with no LONG-term memory", which is closer to the truth than the given title. The best title would be "The man with no ability to form new long term memories" but that's a little awkward. There's another YouTube video on CLive called "The man with a 30 second memory", and that's pretty good. (Note: 30 seconds is the approx. duration of short-term memory!)
@zhimbo No, he has long term memory otherwise he wouldn't be able to remember his wife or how to play piano, or even have such a wide vocabulary. It's his ability to commit things to Long term memory which is the problem. So he cannot absorb new information.
@MCGeest But, if you prefer, you can simply look up the information. For example:
"Strong evidence for some form of this theory exists in the condition of anterogade amnesia, in which the subject can form no new long-term memories. The subject's working memory, however, seems to function normally" (Note: Working memory = short term memory in this context; see the article for more explanation )
@ocelotxp He only has long term memories from BEFORE his illness. He has no long term memory from AFTER his illness. He has intact short term memory. In summary: intact short term, inability to form new long term memories, preserved existing long term memories from before the brain damage.
There are two things in his life that keeps his memory momentarily aware. When he is with his wife. And when he plays the piano. He has never forgotten any songs.
@amm2911 Actually, current scientific evidence and theories have shown time to possibly exist outside of our physical realm, perhaps as a 4th dimension which is always present but we cannot sense it conciously.
He can probably still learn through repetition bc it's a completely different kind of memory than short-term, so if he was told many, many times about his condition then he would eventually be aware of it.
yeah like HM he has maintained procedural memory so he would be able to learn new motor skills, e.g. riding a bike however he wouldnt remmeber how he learnt them.. he cant transfer memories from his short term to long term
No, the title is incorrect. His ability to encode into the long-term memory is what's damaged (not his short term). The memories obtained before the problem started are fine, but he cannot encode new ones.
I think it's because everyone (because it's been twenty years since his last long term memory) would look different so he wouldn't recognise them. Idk why that means he doesn't remember his wife though.
He does remember his children, he says he last saw them when they were doing O Levels. Debrah says one has a PHD and he's surprised... mehh... not sure.
i agree! at first he could remember but only for a very short period of time. now he can only remember his wife and his children i think! he is much older now and he has become a lot worse! its very sad :( my psych class was looking into these videos!
I find this really sad, but I agree with cmartyn88, how much he loves his wife is unreal. I find it fascinating how he hasn't forgot her.
theyukarimobile 2 days ago
When he's playing the piano and she is standing behind him, and then she congratulates him, wouldn't he jump because he would forget she was there?
Exhibitionista 3 days ago
I simple love how much he adores and loves his wife. That's so wonderful to me.
cmartyn88 1 week ago 4
He has the memory of a goldfish: swim swim swim, oh a bridge! Wheeeeeee - swim swim swim, oh a bridge! Wheeeeee ...
stevoofd 1 week ago in playlist Memory
Is the man presenting this by any chance Michio Kaku?
stevoofd 1 week ago in playlist Memory
He could literally play chess with himself and enjoy it, theres one good thing?
upsidedownbin 2 weeks ago
He has a short term memory but can't create long term memories. Very sad... Yes he had viral encephalitis that damaged his hippocampus, the brain area involved in LTM formation.
paigeelisemacgregor 2 weeks ago
I heard he had a rare virus that attacked and destroyed part of his brain.
ferociousgumby 2 weeks ago
Comment removed
MichaelDinaswirled 2 weeks ago
But how did he lose his memory yet alone this completely???
MichaelDinaswirled 2 weeks ago
He must be thinking the film crew are perverts
iiV1P4z 3 weeks ago
I was going to ask the same as the comment below. Of all the things he DOES remember, does he remember that he suffers from amnesia?
BlackSabbathFan1985 3 weeks ago
Psychology question: If he can't remember things, is he able to remember that he has amnesia?
katie98ification 1 month ago
@katie98ification no
Skamoni 2 weeks ago
This is so sad :( They seem like such a sweet couple, there's obviously a lot of love there <3
katie98ification 1 month ago 3
What a great wife
provostg 1 month ago 7
I saw this guy on TV today. Terrible. Just terrible.
NeilFraudstrong 1 month ago
If there was a film about Clive Wearing, I think british actor Hugh Grant should make an excellent choice to play the amnesia afflicted musician. Olivia Williams (the 6th sense) would portray his wife Deborah.
WizardOfHumor1989 1 month ago
The way he greets his wife is so adorable.
casstastiqk 1 month ago 15
He must smoke a lot of weed
Impulse32x 1 month ago
I hear they try to keep mirrors away from people with andrograde amnesia, but when patients see their hands it can trigger repetitive freakouts. They never knew they aged
shoemama 1 month ago
He is in Eternal Bliss, this is what Jiddu Krishnamurti tried to convey us during more than 50 years
satyamshivam 1 month ago
@satyamshivam I doubt he is in eternal bliss, his diary looks like a frightened person trying to understand
shoemama 1 month ago
When he is talking about his Children, it's rather haunting when he says 'I have no idea. *I don't know where I am*' That's utterly terrifying to me: to constantly be unaware of where you are, means you may not be safe...who's house is this? Why am I here? Scary.
Will762 1 month ago 2
This is the Saddest Case In Human History in my opinion apart from killing and other kind of physical and psycholgical abuse!
OvenBurn 2 months ago 2
lol if he smoked copious amounts of weed he would be in eternal bliss. thats really cool that the important things stick like he knows he has kids. to some degree i think he may be faking.
gmikoner 3 months ago
@gmikoner
no he does not know that he has kids. Check the dialogue again. He only knows how to play the piano and can "recognize" his wife. These are areas of the brain that are not affected by the amnesia; the piano skills essentially come from established neural connections that are separate from the memory areas. Thus, you can know how to play but not remember how. Also, his long time love still exists, and he knows he has a connection with this women but doesnt kno who she is.
tshenvideos 3 months ago
@tshenvideos perhaps you should check the dialogue again. Wife: "I'm going to see your kids tomorrow" and his reaction "what are they up to now" shows that he knows he has children, but he doesn't know what they're doing these days. I'm not dismissing everything else you're saying, and I'm not agreeing with gmikoner but he does know he has children.
jessicawalker100 2 months ago
@jessicawalker100
Sure, that shows his ability to carry on a conversation. He is able to take pieces of what is told to him and can construct a sensible reply. But, the fact that he "knows" his children is another matter. I'll bet if she asks him if he has any children, he would say he did not know. Being able to carry on a conversation is different than being able to retain that conversation. Perhaps if he said "He's an engineer, isn't he" then that would show previous knowledge.
tshenvideos 2 months ago
@jessicawalker100 Human beings have two basic needs. One of which is the need to be accurate. Patients with short term memory issues tend to confabulate or make up stories as a defense mechanism. His wife's statement of "I'm going to see your kids tomorrow" is pretty suggestive, implanting the idea that he does have kids. Rather than admiting he can't remember his kids, he plays along. Or he was able to access long term memories of them as children.
heathermartin89 2 months ago
@gmikoner
Continuing, this man has been studied by neuroscientists all over the world and has been confirmed to have the shortest memory ever. This guy DID have a life before the accident, and the accident severly impaired his ability to form memory connections. I think that if he was faking it would be EXTREMELY difficult and would have been caught long ago.
tshenvideos 3 months ago
@gmikoner it's VERY sad you think he's faking. why would someone fake something like this. this is the saddest existence
jessicawalker100 2 months ago
Is this a curse, or a blessing...?
PvtJenkins 3 months ago
@PvtJenkins Curse, obviously.
Foodfast123 2 months ago
the awkward moment when everyone has long comments and your comment is just this short.
povedaangel114 3 months ago 4
Its like that Guy in 50 first dates
salvador6vador9 4 months ago
@salvador6vador9 it was a girl :)
Foodfast123 2 months ago
When he first got it his wife left him, then felt bad so she went back to him.
I wouldn't be able to go back I don't think. for him to just forget EVERYTHING it's just so sad =/
MeBeHatz 4 months ago
@JakeGuitar666 You are right he does retain some things (ex. wife). Also, the ability to play the piano, but this is a procedural memory so not quite the same as his memory of his wife (episodic / semantic). Procedural memories are stored in a different area (unconscious of them as well). Short term memory = WM is what keeps you in the "now." He is in the "now" but has no way to store new info, right? Therefore, he lacks LTM (or rather the ability to store new episodic and procedural memories).
mathyourasmussen 4 months ago
@mathyourasmussen It is the sensory memory that keeps us in the now, he is retaining no short term memory or long term.
jalidav1 4 months ago
"Can we dance?" That's so cute.
mosleybecoolyo 4 months ago
This is so sad :'(
but they're such a wonderful couple :')
UVRAwesomness 4 months ago
lmao
animalurxx1 4 months ago
@animalurxx1 what type of cunt would laugh at this?
SUSCRIBEFORJOO 4 months ago 2
@animalurxx1 u r just unbelievable..how in the name of all tht holy cn u fricking laugh
ayumichanish 4 months ago
@ayumichanish Don't worry. He's socially inept in real life and not many people like him.
/thread
SUSCRIBEFORJOO 4 months ago
The emotion he feels for his wife, love, is one of the only things he has retained. It shows how powerful our emotions are in the question of memory.
TwiggehLeaf 5 months ago 4
heart touching.
zocom009 5 months ago
What I don't understand ishow this man who can supposedly never retain any of his stm react to questions like "do you know what your children are doing" in a way like hes been talking about them for the past five minutes.
I have no doubt that this man has amnesia of some kind, but I would think that when he was posed with such a question he would either:
1. React accurately to how he was prior to his amnesia onset
or 2. Realise that this kind of question puzzles him and react accordingly (upset)
mojonotsag 6 months ago
@mojonotsag Oh right, How long have you been a practitioner in psychology? Because surely only someone with qualifications and authority over the matters would give something that could be mistaken for ignorance.
MrSimmonds123 4 months ago
@MrSimmonds123 In the same way thatyou accused me of assuming what Im saying to be right, you assumed yourself that Im not a practitioner in psychology. Now, while you happen to be correct in your assumption, Ill tell you Im studying my second year in psychology at uni, havingbeen recommended this videoby my lecturer.SO it seems probable(if we were to play your assumption game again)that I might know a little bit more than you about this.Also, i was asking an open question you illiterate fuck :)
mojonotsag 4 months ago
@mojonotsag Lol, so I was right then? And also sorry if I sounded hostile :L but I don't think I was "illiterate(?)" And I hope that you DON'T take a career in psychology, because you could have said all of that without the swearing at the end; I'm pretty sure you have to be fairly caring/open to people's thoughts. I am genuinely sorry though, for misreading what you meant by your questions, I thought you were being purposefully ignorant.
MrSimmonds123 4 months ago
@mojonotsag thank you for your apology, and I apologise for my final comment. You can attribute that part of my response to A responding in kind to aggressive comments on the internet and B Me quite enjoying arguing on youtube. I called you illiterate because even after showing my brother what you had written we still could not garner what you were accusing me of. And also because it seemed that you had totally misread my comment. Also be glad I'm not interested in the clinical aspect ;)
mojonotsag 4 months ago
He jumped up so quick when he saw his wife! Lol
Mackinsterr 6 months ago
He is very clearly dishonest about his illness.
jobbieteeth 6 months ago
@jobbieteeth Why would he do that then?
Lacusness 6 months ago
If there was an upcoming film about Clive Wearing, I think Hugh Grant would make an excellent portrayal of the amnesia-inflicted music composer.
WizardOfHumor1989 6 months ago
OMG she could cheat on him and he would forget right way lol
I also heard about cases of str8 men forgetting their sexual orientation only at public bathrooms and resting areas. lol
RonaldBarone 6 months ago
I was blown away when my instructor showed Clive Wearing's case in my Biological Psych class last year. Very tragic, but amazing how his wife has remained committed to him (although I did hear they divorced and remarried at one point).
JSBlancarte 7 months ago
I had this once for 1 day. When I regained my memory I became conscious. Nothing from when my memory was lost was retained. He is effectively dead and the last 20 years never happened.
WillyMcWilliness 7 months ago
3:04 they are very very sweet even they are old....
frozenlicks 8 months ago
why doesnt he freak out about the cameras filming him?
jumponalog 8 months ago
the only man to always be winning THE GAME
wiika57 8 months ago 80
@wiika57
Fuck!
I just lost.
CrimsonToast 8 months ago
awww what a cute couple, thats what a wife (or husband) should do; stay together thru think n thin, God bless her
SuperTeenaB 9 months ago
Oh look! It's a castle! Oh look! It's a castle! Oh look! It's a castle!
theshninja 9 months ago
momento
Memphis2142 9 months ago
I do know that at one point Clive's amnesia came all too much for his wife so she moved away to live in America. However she has now come back and still sees him often.
retroboydeccles 9 months ago
Clive has complete anterograde amnesia, this is the loss of the ability to create new memories after his illness in 1985- he also has partial retrograde amnesia, this means that much of his past has been forgotten as well. It's not like when most people walk into a room and they forget what they came for. Every thirty seconds or so his consciousness resets entirely so there's nothing but void before it. "It's been like death, I've never seen a human being before- never had a dream or a thought."
akechi77 10 months ago
It's stuff like this make me love the study of psychology. As sad as this is for that man, I find it extremely interesting..
BRBgottaskate 10 months ago 27
He has STM, no LTM (get the Title right)!
mathyourasmussen 10 months ago
Its not interesting that he can play the piano. Skills and memory are in different parts of the brain.
TeaTimewithKyle 11 months ago
amazing what love can do
starjen222 11 months ago
memento with guy pearce
emdez93 1 year ago
Homework was to watch this guy. Yes.
MrBadMushroom 1 year ago
@MrBadMushroom yeah had to watch this in my psych class
OPnumba1 10 months ago
how come all people with disabilities gets nice wives to take care of them...surely its the work of the HANDS OF GOD
pradeeshfire 1 year ago
The truly terrifying reality of his condition is that, from his perspective, he will have lived only 20 - 30 seconds after his amnesia initially took hold, then, he'll die. In other words his last 20-30 seconds alive will be the only morsel of life he will really experience.
So for all the people saying this is beautiful, its hard to think of something further from beautiful than this mans condition. Any joy he feels, is quickly dissolved into an eternity of nothingness.
bryansteeksma 1 year ago 2
@bryansteeksma indeed a very deep, yet dark view of his condition. but just look at that joy he feels when he sees his wife, his love! i think thats what should sum up his condition
4dOp 11 months ago
@4dOp I think she's probably suffered far more than him from this.
JaiNobesIsARat 10 months ago
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww it is very beautiful the love he has for his wife! the joy he feels!
unrivaled37 1 year ago
Whenever he sees his wife it's sooo cute!
MCRomg 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
fake and gay.
barberap 1 year ago
@barberap you're an idiot
bryansteeksma 1 year ago
man i'm seriously worse then this guy when i'm trying to talk to someone high
broadcastmyass4u 1 year ago
it's like a dog every time he sees her.
josephd183 1 year ago
I like how it fades out with, "Can we dance?" :)
quenwolf 1 year ago 2
@quenwolf so am i.. it's so beautiful
illutory 1 year ago
2:42... how both sad and adorable.
atheistworstenemy 1 year ago 2
best troll ever
sassyblodey 1 year ago
When this guy sees his wife, my heart pounds.
Normally, old couples don't do anything for me.
But for some reason...it's too cute.
GDscissorhandedgurl 1 year ago
Oh I see!
arukoshade 1 year ago
I wonder if he knows that he doesnt have memory..
tmtimi 1 year ago
@tmtimi I think he does know he doesn't have a memory. There's a documentary made 1998 or something, and his wife explains it very well.
Lottarandomness 1 year ago
@tmtimi lol that made me laugh
yankeesteelerfan4313 1 year ago
@negativecreepx True: the reverse of the title isn't really correct, either.
zhimbo 1 year ago
He only has like what, 218 mb of ram?
Enough to play the piano, but he's not going to play some higher graphics instrument like the harp.
NakedCreep 1 year ago
I wonder how many times while filming this he asked; "who are you and what are you doing here filming me?"
The4LA2Baker0 1 year ago
@The4LA2Baker0 If they are continuously filming, he would remember it as it would stay in his short term memory, but the next day when they came back to film, he wouldn't remember as he can't store memories as long term, nor retrieve them - basically he remembers how to do things, i.e. music, but events, he can't recall. Like he remembers he's married, but not his marriage.
CountSpamaIot 1 year ago
What a wonderful wife she is.
strawberryfields789 1 year ago 93
@strawberryfields789 she divorced him but she's still a good ex-wife
djelambi 11 months ago
This man is a genius...
he has concocted an illness in which he doesn't have to listen to his wife and isnt accountable for what she tells him. And he gets to sit around the house and hang out while his wife goes to work.
Bravo sir, Bravo
michaelbrandonmcgee 1 year ago
That is simply the sadest thing I have ever seen
ooosteve 1 year ago
my dad just had a stroke 3 weeks ago and is now exactly like this guy. basically every 30 seconds his short term memory wipes clean and he thinks he is just waking up from a coma in the hospital. he just keeps asking the same questions over and over. he just lives in a continuous cycle. trust me to see my dad like that is very sad he is basically dead.
jokeistman 1 year ago
You guys say that this is sad, Oh poor thing...well at least he's happy to see his Wife every single day and has the talent to play Piano. He doesn't need a great memory, he is fine the way he is. How many smart educated people nowadays appreciate the smaller things in life?
EricSchwin22 1 year ago
@EricSchwin22 doesn't this guy only have short term memory? I think this is a terrible fate.
supersmash43 1 year ago
@negativecreepx Bingo!! not many people fully grasp that.
zestyguy87 1 year ago
@hgchjk You don't need any memory to know void, the absence of all things. He has had a thought and a dream but he has no way of permanently encoding this- if a tree falls in the forest but no one is around does it make a noise?
akechi77 1 year ago
this makes me sad too
Metticus 1 year ago
its cute how excited he is to see his wife though
emilyj121188 1 year ago 65
@emilyj121188 haha, naww so true!
fromaworldcorrupted 10 months ago
So damn sad...
Ninety9Soulz 1 year ago 2
Clive wearing had a virus that went to his brain and damaged his hippocampus( which is responsible for creating new memories) the doctors removed it and now he cannot form new memories...all the old ones that happened before his virus he can remember, this is why he can remember his wife! but once she ages he wont be able to remember her cause he can only remember what she looked like before and cant process what she will look like when she ages! I had to study him, thats why i know.
2009Kallen 1 year ago
he's also a good case for the differentiation of implicit and explicit memory functions. hence he can still play piano, but can't remember that he can!
joeglassfield1 1 year ago
One really amazing thing to notice is that compared to the early videos of his illness, he seems to have improved greatly over the years. He's much more articulate and seems a lot less confused and frightened by the world around him.
chickenpiggies 1 year ago 5
Wait... what? I'm confused now...!!!
JaiNobesIsARat 2 years ago
he's faking it, for attention and im just kidding
spiritro06 2 years ago
i didnt know the answer when she asked him "in waht countrey?" O.o
ThaEther 2 years ago
Title is wrong. Clive has a short term memory. He's just unable to transfer new events from his short term into his long term--AMNESIA
The hippocampus is responsible for encoding new memories into the long term, but Clive's was extemely damaged by his illness (herpes). The hippocampus is also suggested by research to be incharge of retrieving episodic memory as well. This explains both his anterograde AND retrorgrade amnesia.
EosHeliosSelene 2 years ago
whats anterograde and retrorgrade amnesia mean?
BlinkinFirefly 2 years ago
retro- means before and antero- means after. Since you now know that, retrograde amnesia is when you some or maybe all memory BEFORE the incident that caused the amnesia. Retrograde amnesia has two forms: graded and ungraded. Graded Retrograde Amnesia allows earlier memories to recalled but memories closer to the causing event to be more difficult to recall. So, one with this could probably remember more about his/her childhood than what they did a week before the incident. (TBC)
EosHeliosSelene 2 years ago
(cont.) Ungraded Retrograde Amnesia causes all memories to be forgotten.
In Anterograde Amnesia, the person is unable to convert events from the short-term memory into the long term memory. Thus, the person is unable to make new memories, but technically still able to recall previous memories.
Anterograde Amnesia is the most common of the two; however, anterograde amnesia is most frequently seen with some degree of retrograde amnesia. It is very rare to see a plain case of retrograde.
(TBC)
EosHeliosSelene 2 years ago
(Cont. x2) Clive is an example of Anterograde Amnesia. He is constantly forgetting things that happen to him minutes ago because the information is transfered out of his short term and is gone because the damage to his hippocampus.
He also has trouble remembering his past before his illness. This is because of the retrograde amnesia that we usually see with those who have anterograde amnesia. The only one he seems to remember is his wife.
EosHeliosSelene 2 years ago
(cont. x 3) Retrograde and Anterograde are usually caused by 3 things: head injury , Korsakoffs syndrome, or electroconvulsive therapy (aka electroshock or ACT)
Do not confuse these with Dissociative amnesia. Dissociative amnesia is a psychological issue unlike retro and anterograde which are physiological. Dissociative amnesia is a defensive mechanism triggered by a high stress situation. Retro and Anterograde amnesia are caused by damage to the hippocampus and/or the temporal lobe.
Done.
EosHeliosSelene 2 years ago
*puts on glasses to look smart* Questions? lol
EosHeliosSelene 2 years ago 2
In the case of dissociative vs retrograde amnesia, how would you tell which is which? If someone had a head injury, during a period of high-stress/emotional trauma, and has very sparse memories for several years surrounding the incident, how would you know if it was physical, or psychological? Is it possible that retrograde could only effect certain kinds of memories? Can brain damage effect the kind of information which can be retained? Like recognition, mathematical, verbal, written etc?
gryphonkeen 2 years ago
oooooh, ok it makes sense now
thanks for clearing that up fpr me =)
BlinkinFirefly 2 years ago
he loves seeing his wife. :)
it must feel like an eternity when hes a lone not remembering the last time he saw someone until she walks in.
Sykosis310 2 years ago
clive has a damaged hippocampus, he has no ability is process new information input but
he retains all semantic long term memory, thats why he recognises familiar people, knows how to do his normal things, for instance playing the piano.
RaikoKensei 2 years ago
And to answer your question, no it would fee like forever. People normally do exactly the same thing as clive, except some of our 'new' information is transferred and processed into long term memory. His life is just a constant uninterrupted flow of 30 second intervals that he isnt aware of.
RaikoKensei 2 years ago
Actually, it would be the opposite of feeling like an eternity. Every moment to him is like the first moment of his life. Like suddenly coming into existence. Sad, but I don't think it's like a lingering suffering to him.
chodaboy51500 2 years ago
studying this case study in my a level course...he can still play the piano as he has his procedural memory (memory for certain skills) intact
steffjade 2 years ago
Comment removed
kamzok 2 years ago
Steff as in from Colfes School?
Idk if it's you, i have a girl called Steff in my AS Psychology class.
JaiNobesIsARat 2 years ago
nah :p sorry
steffjade 2 years ago
not procedural memory, that could mean any number of processes. more distinctively its implicit memory.
its part of his long term memory, not his short term.
RaikoKensei 2 years ago
this guy must be so kool to chat too!!
hassanane 2 years ago
whats the name of the song clive plays on the piano ? , i feel for him
280az 2 years ago
The title is wrong. Clive ONLY has short term memory, he lacks the ability to form new LONG TERM memories. The reverse of the title given to this vid.
zhimbo 2 years ago 23
I'm not so sure.
"Now his wife, Debrah, is the only person he recognises" - Narrator
"It's been like death, i've never seen a human being before" - Clive
We learnt in AS Psychology he's unable to encode new long term memories, but i think there must be more than that... there are other hints from the video that there must be something else going on.
JaiNobesIsARat 2 years ago
@zhimbo no he doesn't remember things that happened recentley but he remembers things like who his wife is
ThreadyCashdrummer01 1 year ago
@ThreadyCashdrummer01 Which means he has lost the ability to create new long term memories. "Short term memory" refers to time spans of about 30 seconds or so, or the ability to immediately repeat back information.
zhimbo 1 year ago
@zhimbo I Lost the... what did I lose?
0Cazador 1 year ago
@zhimbo Wouldn't the reverse of the title be "The man with great short-term memory", or "The man with perfect memory"?
The4LA2Baker0 1 year ago
@The4LA2Baker0 In my original comment, my idea of the reverse of the title would be "The man with no LONG-term memory", which is closer to the truth than the given title. The best title would be "The man with no ability to form new long term memories" but that's a little awkward. There's another YouTube video on CLive called "The man with a 30 second memory", and that's pretty good. (Note: 30 seconds is the approx. duration of short-term memory!)
zhimbo 1 year ago
@zhimbo No, he has long term memory otherwise he wouldn't be able to remember his wife or how to play piano, or even have such a wide vocabulary. It's his ability to commit things to Long term memory which is the problem. So he cannot absorb new information.
vaudreyt 1 year ago
@zhimbo
Somehow I very much doubt you have studied this subject.
I don't think long term memory is how you defin it,
MCGeest 1 year ago
@MCGeest Since you bring it up, I'm a PhD in Cognitive Psychology. So yes, I've studied this subject. it is, in fact, what I do professionally.
zhimbo 1 year ago
@MCGeest But, if you prefer, you can simply look up the information. For example:
"Strong evidence for some form of this theory exists in the condition of anterogade amnesia, in which the subject can form no new long-term memories. The subject's working memory, however, seems to function normally" (Note: Working memory = short term memory in this context; see the article for more explanation )
zhimbo 1 year ago
@zhimbo Youtube doesn't like me putting a link in, so you can just search for "Misconceptions About Memory" by Dan Liden on the web.
zhimbo 1 year ago
@zhimbo too short term memoery.
BeamSurfer 1 year ago
@zhimbo No. You need short term memory to create new long term memories.
If he only had short term memory, he wouldn't know who his wife is.
ocelotxp 11 months ago
@ocelotxp He only has long term memories from BEFORE his illness. He has no long term memory from AFTER his illness. He has intact short term memory. In summary: intact short term, inability to form new long term memories, preserved existing long term memories from before the brain damage.
zhimbo 11 months ago
so sad
a566626 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
its like the movie memento lol
HappyJack1991 2 years ago
There are two things in his life that keeps his memory momentarily aware. When he is with his wife. And when he plays the piano. He has never forgotten any songs.
InSaneTK 2 years ago
time is an illusion anyway. this man is blessed in a way
amm2911 2 years ago
@amm2911 Actually, current scientific evidence and theories have shown time to possibly exist outside of our physical realm, perhaps as a 4th dimension which is always present but we cannot sense it conciously.
Bloozboy91 1 year ago
At least he can never lose The Game...
JKoss618 2 years ago 30
Shit i lost!!
deadlivingsaint 2 years ago
OMG! I HATE YOU!
JaiNobesIsARat 2 years ago
@JKoss618 oh snap i lost the game...
casanoval33t 1 year ago
@JKoss618 F*"+ you I lost ^^
bigboss936 1 year ago
@JKoss618 FUCK now i just lost the game...
euanNZ 1 year ago
@JKoss618 dammit i just lost.
mkeefe7 1 year ago
@JKoss618 Ahaha! That's so true!
kumikomishitate 1 year ago
@JKoss618
i just lost
geradgray 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Dude the best disease in the world
punkassmofo3 2 years ago
omg this is got to be the worst kind of disease you can get.
imgordonfreeman 2 years ago
does he know that he cannot remember?
Berryfilms 2 years ago
No, he forgot.
gredangeo 2 years ago
He can probably still learn through repetition bc it's a completely different kind of memory than short-term, so if he was told many, many times about his condition then he would eventually be aware of it.
akechi77 2 years ago 2
yeah like HM he has maintained procedural memory so he would be able to learn new motor skills, e.g. riding a bike however he wouldnt remmeber how he learnt them.. he cant transfer memories from his short term to long term
kamzok 2 years ago
No, the title is incorrect. His ability to encode into the long-term memory is what's damaged (not his short term). The memories obtained before the problem started are fine, but he cannot encode new ones.
JaiNobesIsARat 2 years ago
wrong he only remembers his wife thats it
dsnydewgirl 2 years ago
Yeah, that's puzzling me...
I think it's because everyone (because it's been twenty years since his last long term memory) would look different so he wouldn't recognise them. Idk why that means he doesn't remember his wife though.
He does remember his children, he says he last saw them when they were doing O Levels. Debrah says one has a PHD and he's surprised... mehh... not sure.
JaiNobesIsARat 2 years ago
i agree! at first he could remember but only for a very short period of time. now he can only remember his wife and his children i think! he is much older now and he has become a lot worse! its very sad :( my psych class was looking into these videos!
dsnydewgirl 2 years ago
Remember but only for a very short period of time? That'