The Case of EP
EP’s former profession before he became one of the most severe cases of amnesia ever documented
What is a retired lab technician?
The part of the brain that performs the "magical feat" of turning thoughts into long-term memories
What is the hippocampus?
Ed Cooke’s term for specific memories of events that structure our personal experience of time
What are chronological landmarks?
This former BBC music producer suffers from a "leaky" mind and keeps a diary of his "waking" moments
Who is Clive Wearing?
The philosopher who famously said "the unexamined life was not worth living"
Who is Socrates?
The specific virus that "cored" EP’s brain like an apple, destroying two walnut-sized chunks of his medial temporal lobes
What is herpes simplex?
The metaphor the author uses to describe EP’s brain: he sees, but he doesn't record
What is a camcorder without a working tape head?
According to the author, this phenomenon "collapses" time and makes years grow "hollow"
What is repetition?
EP’s daughter who describes him as "happy all the time" because he has no stress in his life
Who is Carol?
The author compares EP’s "never-ending present" to a "twisted vision" of this religious ideal
What is the Buddhist ideal (of living in the present)?
EP’s IQ score, which remained normal despite his profound memory loss
What is 103?
This type of amnesia prevents a person from forming any new memories
What is anterograde amnesia?
The French chronobiologist who spent two months in a cave to study human rhythms "beyond time"
Who is Michel Siffre?
The message EP’s medical alert bracelet displays, which he discovers anew every time he looks at it
What is "memory loss"?
The character from Catch-22 who tries to slow life down by making it as boring as possible
Who is Dunbar?
The decade that marks the cutoff for EP’s retrograde amnesia; he can clearly remember events before this time but nothing after
What are the 1950s?
While memories are processed in the hippocampus, they are actually stored in this ridged outer layer of the brain
What is the neocortex?
The date Michel Siffre thought it was when his team called him on September 14 to end his experiment
What is August 20?
The television channel EP prefers because he can enjoy it from second to second without needing a beginning, middle, or end
What is the History Channel?
The philosophical metaphor used to question if an unremembered experience can be said to have happened at all
What is the tree that falls with no one to hear it?
The neuroscientist and researcher who has been studying EP for over a decade
Who is Larry Squire?
The mental faculty of EP's that remains "entirely undamaged" despite his condition
What is short-term memory?
The psychologist who wrote in 1890 that "life seems to speed up as we get older" because it becomes less memorable
Who is William James?
EP’s wife who believes his lack of awareness of his condition is a "blessing"
Who is Beverly?
The "Peter Pan"-like goal Ed Cooke pursues to ensure he feels like he lives longer
What is expanding subjective/psychological time?