Procedural vs. episodic memory after hippocampal damage
A patient with bilateral hippocampal damage cannot form new memories of events, yet gets faster at tracing a figure in a mirror over several days without remembering having practiced. The preserved memory system is:
Answer D: explanation for every choice
Episodic memory is explicit memory of personal events. It is impaired: he cannot recall practicing.
Semantic memory is explicit memory for facts. Forming new semantic memories also depends on the hippocampus.
Working memory holds and manipulates information over seconds. It does not explain a skill improving across days.
Correct. Procedural memory is implicit skill memory that relies on the basal ganglia and cerebellum, so it is spared by hippocampal damage, as in patient H.M.
Reviewed 2026-11-05 by a medical student. Spot an error? Report it with question ID ps15.