Notes from the BBC 4 Radio interview: Case studies, Series 2: HM - Wednesday 11th August. 10am

Notes from the BBC 4 Radio interview: Case studies, Series 2: HM - Wednesday 11th August. 10am

·         Henry is the most famous neurological patient in the world

·         He had no continuity, day to day, hour to hour, every 15 mins if he got distracted he would tell you the same story three times, and use the same words and same intonation.

·          Would he ever get upset, or confused because he didn’t know what he was doing? – No he never got upset about that, to him everyone was a friend. He wasn’t afraid of anybody.

·         Mary Jane Edger’s, Nursing assistant said “He was a nice guy, funny, joking, kind and if DR Scoville said to do something he would do that.”

·         William scovilles reaction to the outcome of the operation? – Incredibly shocked. Nobody should do this kind of operation because of the risks to memory.

Henry interview with Suzanne Corkin…  1977 she recorded an interview with H.M

SC: How long have you had trouble remembering things?

H.M: That I don’t know myself, I can’t tell you because I don’t remember.

SC: Well, do you think it’s been more than a year that you’ve had this problem?

H.M: I think it’s about that, about a year or more because uh, I believe I had a, this is just a thought I’m having myself, that I uh, possibly had an operation or something.

SC: Uh huh, what do you do to try to remember?

H.M: That I don’t know, because I don’t remember when I tried.

SC: Is it harder for you to remember things than for other people to remember things?

H.M: Yes I think it is, but the funny thing, I go with crossword puzzles now a lot more than I used to

SC: Really, why is that?

H.M: Because then maybe I remember words, and sometimes I don’t have to look them up, I remember.

 SC: He would keep a crossword puzzle and pencil with him at all times, he thought it helped him because he was retrieving information from his long term semantic memory, he thought that it was beneficial to him

H.M: I used to do them in newspapers.

SC: How long ago was that?

H.M: When I was 15

SC: You have to make a distinction between events that happened pre-operatively and that happened post- operative, in terms of pre-op, remote memory his knowledge of public events is excellent….. Autobiographical memory, no episodes at all.

SC: Can you remember a special event with you father or a trip or something like that?

H.M: No, there I’m stuck in a way because I remember a trip going on a trail, my mother my father and myself.

He had many hobbies which include – collecting guns, roller skating, target practice. He likes to talk about these things, but never puts them in to a main event.

SC: Have we ever met me before?

H.M: Yes I think we have

SC: Where?

H.M: In high school

SC: In high school, what year was that about?

H.M: 1945…. 46

SC: Have we ever met anyplace besides high school?

H.M: No don’t think so.

Hope this is helpful! Ria :)