Posted By crates on December 6, 2008

          I recently reread Latro of the Mist which combines two of Gene Wolfe’s books (Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete) into one book.  In this book Wolfe (who has been described by some as one of the best writers in the English language) tells the story of Latro, a Roman, who suffered a severe head injury while fighting for the Persian King, Xerxes, against the Greeks at the battle of Plataea.

          Latro has lost his long term memory and overnight forgets everything that happened the previous day.  As a sort of compensation he is able to see and talk to the gods.  He is told that he must write down a detailed account of the events of each day, and make sure to read it the next morning when he gets up so he can maintain some sort of continuity in his life.   The two books are thus the journal that he keeps (I just found out that there is a third book in the series: Soldier of Sidon.).   I enjoyed the books very much, and as always Wolfe showed his consumate skill as a writer.

     I was reminded of these books today after reading an article about the death of Henry Gustav Molaison, who after an operation performed in 1953 to relieve severe seizures lost his ability to retain long term memories…or almost any memory except some from his childhood.   This is a man like the fictional Latro who constantly found himself in a new world, living almost solely in the present.  The article didn’t say how long Molaison retained his memories, although I believe it was much shorter than one day.

          Two finger-shaped slivers of tissue from the hippocampus were removed and thus in effect removed much of Molaison’s personality.  This man has been extensively studied for 55 years, (never remembering from one interview to the next the interviewer), and as far as I know nobody suggested that he keep a daily journal to maintain some sort of continuity in his life!   I have to wonder why this wasn’t suggested to this poor man.  At least he could have made recordings.   Perhaps his memory didn’t even last one day, perhaps it only lasted minutes before fading.

         Apparently Molaison could retain motor skills learned from prior experimental sessions which led scientists to conclude that there were at least two systems in the brain for creating memories.  One which they called declarative memory recorded names, faces and experiences, storing them until consciously retrieved.  This system depends especially on the hippocampus.

      The other system, known as motor learning depends on other brain systems and is unconscious.  This explains why a person can ride a bicycle years after last riding one.

      This all makes me wonder about the nature of consciousness and memory.  Apparently Molaison was an easy going fellow, and when living with relatives would navigate through the day drawing upon memories from his first 27 years, fixng a lunch, making his bed, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, etc.  This man lived in the present.  Can a person have a true personality in this condition?  Some say that beasts live in the present, in the now, with no past and no intimations of the future.  After watching a beloved member of my family gradually lose their memory and their personality, this subjects holds a special interest for me.

              Molaison lived for 82 years and was born Feb 26, 1926.  He left no survivors.  He died in an institution…I wonder if he ever saw the gods.

Categories: nature
Tags: brain injuries, Consciousness, memory, nature