Authors:

WILSON, B.A., Moscovitch, M., Kopelman, M., Bigler, E.

Reference:

Year of publication:

-

CBU number:

6382

Abstract:

Clive Wearing was a world class musician and musical scholar. He played at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer. In 1986 he contracted herpes simplex encephalitis which left him densely amnesic but with his musical skills intact. His wife has written a book about the personal side of living with amnesia entitled "Forever Today" reflecting the fact that Clive constantly believes he has just woken up. In this symposium we describe Clive, the nature of his memory functioning including both strengths and weaknesses, the anatomical structures affected by the virus, his contribution to our understanding of memory and his place in memory research. We also look at changes over the twenty year period since he first became ill and his response to rehabilitation.