Korsakoff's Syndrome

Brain damage caused by severe thiamine deficiency occurs mostly in chronic alcoholics is Korsakoff's syndrome. The lack of vitamins due to a diet of nothing but alcoholic beverages for a long period of time causes the deficiency of thiamine which affects the brain and nervous system. Thiamine is needed by the brain to metabolize its primary fuel, glucose. The loss or shrinkage of neurons is lead by the prolonged deficiency of thiamine throughout the brain. Korsakoff's syndrome may follow Wernicke's encephalopathy if it is untreated or not treated soon enough.  Brain damage occurs, and the doromedial thalamus is an area which is the most affected. The dorsomedial thalamus is the main source of input to the prefrontal cortex; resulting in severe short-term memory loss though many other abilities may remain intact. Memory loss, apathy, and confusion may be symptoms of Korsakoff's syndrome which are very similar to those people with prefrontal cortex damage. Korsakoff's syndrome main symptom is memory loss particularly of events arising after the onset of a condition, or sometimes memories of the more distant past can also be affected. Confabulation is a distinctive symptom of this syndrome in which patients invent events to fill the gaps in memory. Patients mainly confabulate on questions about episodic memory and seldom on semantic questions. Strategies for studying are product of a fascinating influence of the tendency for a person to confabulate. Reading the list over and over is an effective way to learn much better for patients with Korsakoff's syndrome.