Retrograde amnesia

Have you ever heard the phrase "I don't remember anything from before the accident"? That's exactly what retrograde amnesia is! When someone has retrograde amnesia, they can't remember things from their past, like their childhood, events, or people they met before the incident that caused their amnesia.

We think of memories like little movies that our brain records and stores away. So when we want to think about something, it's like we're playing that movie in our head. But when something happens to our brain, like an injury or illness, it can mess up those movies or erase them completely.

Think of your brain like a computer. When you save a file, you put it in a folder. But what if you accidentally delete that folder? You won't be able to find that file anymore, even if you really need it. That's kind of like what happens when someone has retrograde amnesia, their brain has lost that folder of memories.

But the good news is, just like you can save new files on your computer, your brain can also make new memories after the amnesia. So even if someone can't remember their past, they can still have new experiences and make new friends.