5 ms·

Woman earns college degree two decades after complete memory loss

131 points by GiraffeNecktie 15y ago

yarone 15y ago
Wow, incredible. If anyone interested in learning more about these types of situations, I recommend "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sacks: http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949 http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949 Incredible collection of stories like this one, from the point-of-view of a neurologist.
- gnosis 15y ago
  Also, of course, the brilliant movie Memento.
- joeyespo 15y ago
  Yes, that's an incredible book. Here's a story by the same author about a blind man who had a procedure done restoring his sight: http://web.archive.org/web/20060831124229/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/060619fr_archive01 http://web.archive.org/web/20060831124229/http://www.newyork... (It's long, here's an abridged version: http://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2007/387/Resources/Readings/sacks_toseeornottosee.html http://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2007/387/Resources/Readi...) It can help set the tone for the rest of his books. He has written some fascinating things about human experience. I also highly recommend reading his work if you're into this.
  - pessimizer 15y ago
    Thanks for the link, I had never seen that one before. Through link jumping, I managed to find a blog written by a guy who had a similar experience: http://web.archive.org/web/20040401192741/www.senderogroup.com/mikejournal.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20040401192741/www.senderogroup.c...
- nazgulnarsil 15y ago
  also: blindsight by peter watts. free online and amazing. http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
dmm 15y ago
Damn it's good to have family.
ciupicri 15y ago
She barely recognized her family and friends or where she put the milk, yet she was able to drive a car which implies both skills and knowledge of some laws? P.S. The article doesn't mention a big gap between her return home and the moment she started driving again: To complicate matters, for weeks after the injury Su could not make new memories. She would awaken each day to a house full of strangers. It would be years before she could remember where she had parked the car at the mall. This text implies that remembering where she parked took years, not driving itself.
- dudurocha 15y ago
  she spent another 22 years learning how to do the things that she knew before. At first she could barely ride a bike, after that she was growing up.
- gjm11 15y ago
  1. The article actually says she lost the ability to drive. 2. Different sorts of memories are represented in different ways and in different parts of the brain. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear of a case of brain damage that destroyed huge amounts of "factual" memories without depriving the victim of the ability to drive. Or vice versa.
  - ciupicri 15y ago
    The second point makes sense, but given the scale of the damage I'm still surprised.
- whimsy 15y ago
  It sounds like she lost a cognitive faculty called "object permanence." This is something children develop 8-12 months after birth. Before developing it, if they can't see an object, as far as they are concerned it doesn't exist. I imagine it would be a pretty frightening way to live.
  - Alex3917 15y ago
    Baillargeon's study was able to detect object permanence as early as 3.5 months. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_permanence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_permanence As we've gotten cleverer at constructing methodology, we've found that babies acquire knowledge faster than Piaget thought in almost all areas.
AngryParsley 15y ago
“It was literally like she had died,” Jim said. “Her personality was gone.” This is a great example of how modern medicine has made "death" a very vague term. More and more often, we can keep bodies alive but we can't recover the memories and personality in the brain. For most practical purposes, Su Meck died in 1988. Fortunately in this case the damage wasn't completely permanent, and a new Su Meck made a life for herself. Still, the law doesn't recognize this and Su Meck 2.0 is beholden to contracts and commitments made by Su Meck 1.0. The law is slow to react to technological advances, so I think this problem will only get worse as medicine gets better.
- meric 15y ago
  Yeah, but the law also allowed her husband and children to stay by her side.
- BasDirks 15y ago
  Also a great example of how abuse of the word has made "literally" a very vague term!
- knowtheory 15y ago
  The law, regardless of what it aspires to, is designed to accommodate the many, and deal with exceptions on a case by case basis. The things that have happened to Su Meck are a rarity in every sense of the word. Her circumstances are so exceptional that it seems weird to carve out exceptions in the law, and really should be accommodated by the parties which she would have previously formed contracts with. On top of that, the law is supposed to draw up distinctions and standards that can be used as yardsticks and metrics, and where there is genuine confusion and vagueness, the law may not have enough clarity from societal standards, or agreement from the medical establishment to be able to draw up reasonable measures.
  - chroma 15y ago
    I think the OP's point is that Su Mecks are rare today, but they will happen more often as technology can save more people. Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death seems to have fewer edge-cases than our current criteria for declaring death.
asanwal 15y ago
Incredible and remarkable story. Quite honestly, I am amazed/impressed that her husband also persevered and stuck through what must have been a very trying and long recovery process.
- bendmorris 15y ago
  Also, imagine what it must've been like for the kids.
  - biot 15y ago
    The oldest was two years old at the time and likely would not remember it ever being any different. Not to say it wouldn't have been a bit awkward seeing the difference between mom and dad or comparing to other kids' parents as they grew older, but kids are resilient and I imagine they did quite fine.
- nomokie 15y ago
  Me too, he's also the hero of this story. I had a brother with a sever traumatic brain injury and his marriage didn't last, it wasn't an easy decision on her part but she couldn't invest into his rehab. Su's husband is a true hero too!

131 points by GiraffeNecktie 15y ago

Wow, incredible. If anyone interested in learning more about these types of situations, I recommend "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sacks: http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949 http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949 Incredible collection of stories like this one, from the point-of-view of a neurologist.

gnosis 15y ago
Also, of course, the brilliant movie Memento.
joeyespo 15y ago
Yes, that's an incredible book. Here's a story by the same author about a blind man who had a procedure done restoring his sight: http://web.archive.org/web/20060831124229/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/060619fr_archive01 http://web.archive.org/web/20060831124229/http://www.newyork... (It's long, here's an abridged version: http://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2007/387/Resources/Readings/sacks_toseeornottosee.html http://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2007/387/Resources/Readi...) It can help set the tone for the rest of his books. He has written some fascinating things about human experience. I also highly recommend reading his work if you're into this.
- pessimizer 15y ago
  Thanks for the link, I had never seen that one before. Through link jumping, I managed to find a blog written by a guy who had a similar experience: http://web.archive.org/web/20040401192741/www.senderogroup.com/mikejournal.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20040401192741/www.senderogroup.c...
nazgulnarsil 15y ago
also: blindsight by peter watts. free online and amazing. http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

dmm 15y ago

Damn it's good to have family.

ciupicri 15y ago

She barely recognized her family and friends or where she put the milk, yet she was able to drive a car which implies both skills and knowledge of some laws? P.S. The article doesn't mention a big gap between her return home and the moment she started driving again: To complicate matters, for weeks after the injury Su could not make new memories. She would awaken each day to a house full of strangers. It would be years before she could remember where she had parked the car at the mall. This text implies that remembering where she parked took years, not driving itself.

dudurocha 15y ago
she spent another 22 years learning how to do the things that she knew before. At first she could barely ride a bike, after that she was growing up.
gjm11 15y ago
1. The article actually says she lost the ability to drive. 2. Different sorts of memories are represented in different ways and in different parts of the brain. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear of a case of brain damage that destroyed huge amounts of "factual" memories without depriving the victim of the ability to drive. Or vice versa.
- ciupicri 15y ago
  The second point makes sense, but given the scale of the damage I'm still surprised.
whimsy 15y ago
It sounds like she lost a cognitive faculty called "object permanence." This is something children develop 8-12 months after birth. Before developing it, if they can't see an object, as far as they are concerned it doesn't exist. I imagine it would be a pretty frightening way to live.
- Alex3917 15y ago
  Baillargeon's study was able to detect object permanence as early as 3.5 months. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_permanence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_permanence As we've gotten cleverer at constructing methodology, we've found that babies acquire knowledge faster than Piaget thought in almost all areas.

AngryParsley 15y ago

“It was literally like she had died,” Jim said. “Her personality was gone.” This is a great example of how modern medicine has made "death" a very vague term. More and more often, we can keep bodies alive but we can't recover the memories and personality in the brain. For most practical purposes, Su Meck died in 1988. Fortunately in this case the damage wasn't completely permanent, and a new Su Meck made a life for herself. Still, the law doesn't recognize this and Su Meck 2.0 is beholden to contracts and commitments made by Su Meck 1.0. The law is slow to react to technological advances, so I think this problem will only get worse as medicine gets better.

meric 15y ago
Yeah, but the law also allowed her husband and children to stay by her side.
BasDirks 15y ago
Also a great example of how abuse of the word has made "literally" a very vague term!
knowtheory 15y ago
The law, regardless of what it aspires to, is designed to accommodate the many, and deal with exceptions on a case by case basis. The things that have happened to Su Meck are a rarity in every sense of the word. Her circumstances are so exceptional that it seems weird to carve out exceptions in the law, and really should be accommodated by the parties which she would have previously formed contracts with. On top of that, the law is supposed to draw up distinctions and standards that can be used as yardsticks and metrics, and where there is genuine confusion and vagueness, the law may not have enough clarity from societal standards, or agreement from the medical establishment to be able to draw up reasonable measures.
- chroma 15y ago
  I think the OP's point is that Su Mecks are rare today, but they will happen more often as technology can save more people. Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death seems to have fewer edge-cases than our current criteria for declaring death.

asanwal 15y ago

Incredible and remarkable story. Quite honestly, I am amazed/impressed that her husband also persevered and stuck through what must have been a very trying and long recovery process.

bendmorris 15y ago
Also, imagine what it must've been like for the kids.
- biot 15y ago
  The oldest was two years old at the time and likely would not remember it ever being any different. Not to say it wouldn't have been a bit awkward seeing the difference between mom and dad or comparing to other kids' parents as they grew older, but kids are resilient and I imagine they did quite fine.
nomokie 15y ago
Me too, he's also the hero of this story. I had a brother with a sever traumatic brain injury and his marriage didn't last, it wasn't an easy decision on her part but she couldn't invest into his rehab. Su's husband is a true hero too!