Acquired oral reading vocabulary following the onset of amnesia in childhood

Abstract

While the neuropsychological literature includes few cases of child-onset amnesia, 2 previous case studies suggest that these patients may be able to learn new information of a semantic or academic nature. The previous studies were, in large part, based on neuropsychological testing performed during adulthood and a retrospective review of academic achievement test scores during childhood. We present patient A.C., who acquired severe anterograde amnesia at age 10 years but demonstrated average levels of performance on tests of reading, spelling and arithmetic upon examination at age 19 years. Episodic and semantic memory test scores were severely impaired, but near normal performances were found on tests of implicit and procedural memory. In a prospective study, A.C. learned to read new irregular and pseudowords and retained this learning over a 1-month period, similar to the performance of age-matched controls. This demonstration of postmorbid, acquired oral reading vocabulary supports a previous conclusion that oral reading can progress in childhood following the onset of severe anterograde amnesia. The data also suggest that this new learning probably reflects nondeclarative memory processes rather than preservation of semantic memory, as was proposed in an earlier case study. (JINS, 1998, 4, 179–189.)