Brain Surgery Patient Trapped in a Mental Time Warp

diverge_s writes "BrainConnection has an interesting article about a man who lives life straight out of the movie Memento. FTA: "When twenty-seven year old Henry M. entered the hospital in 1953 for radical brain surgery that was supposed to cure his epilepsy, he was hopeful that the procedure would change his life for the better. Instead, it trapped him in a mental time warp where TV is always a new invention and Truman is forever president. The removal of large sections of his temporal lobes left Henry unable to form any new personal memories, but his tragic loss revolutionized the field of psychology and made "H.M." the most-studied individual in the history of brain research.""

On the bright side...

[jd]

It means he never has to put up with re-runs on television and got to escape the entire disco era unscathed.

In other news

[drDugan]

"BrainConnection has an interesting article about a man who lives life straight out of the movie Memento. FTA: "When twenty-seven year old Henry M. entered the ..."

Re:On the bright side...

[Saven Marek]

It means he never has to put up with re-runs on television and got to escape the entire disco era unscathed.

I'm now wondering if he's been employed as a slashdot editor, and every dupe is a fresh exciting new story.

That man today...

[Carpe PM]

...is better known as Cowboy Neal.

Ah, come in. Now what seems to be the matter?

[Anonymous Coward]

(Caption on the screen: 'IT'S THE MIND -- A WEEKLY MAGAZINE OF THINGS PSYCHIATRIC' Cut to montage of photographs again with captions and music. Cut to a man sitting at usual desk. He is Mr Boniface.)

Boniface: Good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind', we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu. That strange feeling we sometimes get that we've lived through something before, that what is happening now has already happened. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we sometimes get that we've ... (looks puzzled fir a moment) Anyway, tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange...

(Cut to opening title sequence with montage of psychiatric photos and the two captions and music over. Cut back to Mr Boniface at desk, shaken. Caption on screen: 'IT'S THE MIND')

Boniface: Good evening. Tonight on 'It's the Mind' we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we someti... mes get ... that ... we've lived through something...

(Cut to opening titles again. Back then to Boniface, now very shaken. Caption on screen: 'IT'S THE MIND')

Re:Not news...

[mrchaotica]

It is to him!

Re:Not news...

[Anonymous Coward]

If the most recent development was in 1953, is it still news?

You have to ask this on Slashdot?

The real question is...

[Rude Turnip]

WWASD?

What would Adam Sandler do?

first dates

[vlad30]

he could meet this girl http://imdb.com/title/tt0343660/ [imdb.com]

Crueler still...

[Errandboy of Doom]

I think hitting over the head with a chair would be pretty cruel, because man, that would have to hurt.

Re:A bit more about him

[NitsujTPU]

I'm not exactly talking about becoming a total libtertine. My grandmother drinks Remy Martin XO whenever she has a drink, and enjoys one almost every night.

I wouldn't deny her it.

No it doesnt sound stupid

[drachenstern]

I am the same way, and by way of ref, I was "diagnosed" ADD/ADHD in the late 80's/early 90's (you seriously expect ME to remember when, yeah right, read the first part of the sentence again). I have since spent a lot of time talking to some very knowledgeable (think genius and add some on top) Psychs (both varieties) and have come to the conclusion (which they sometimes acknowledge is a reasonable belief, since so little seems to be known about this "disease" (phhht)) that ADD/ADHD is not a impairment in the way that the mind makes connections with data, but in how much data the mind is anticipating. Kinda like revving your engine and dropping into second, sometimes you're where you need to be to make that happen, sometimes your not. ADD/ADHD people sometimes seem like everyday normal people, and sometimes we're all over the place, and sometimes we're about to fall apart on ya.

But back to you're post, yeah, you're not the only one. I CANNOT seem to get a person's name for anything, but I can do the face/item trick just as well. One of my prof's, double doctorate, retired from TWO psy institutions had a very simple trick for learning names, and he taught it to every one of his classes, psy or otherwise during the first few days of class. Use ONE (no more and no less) phrase everytime you meet someone, and you're brain starts to pick up on when you meet someone, you learn their name. Trust my words, he could pick up any name he could say like this. Most students in my classes could too! (I think my ADD/ADHD/Whatever kept me from being able to do this as quickly as most, but it works. He had us say something to the effect of (but use what works for you):

Hello, my name is ______, and your name is? (wait for answer) Nice to meet you _______.

Keep in mind, we were doing an in class exercise whereby we had to do this over and over with our classmates, but since, it has helped that part of my mind alot, and yes, it does sound really cliche. Please ignore that part, just trust that it REALLY does WORK.

my $.02, have questions, just ask

Re:On the bright side...

[Elad Alon]

I wonder if he has registered with Slashdot, and every dupe is an exciting new post.

Lucky guy ...

[didit]

... he'll never notice slashdot dupes.

Re:Is there a name for what *I* have?

[GloomE]

Luckily I live in Australia.
I can get away with calling everyone "mate".

Re:The real question is...

[kestasjk]

Take a polaroid of Adam Sandler, write 'the brain surgeon' at the bottom, slip it in Henry M's pocket.

Nice: 43 Years Later Slashdot's Still got the edge

[Hack Jandy]

This is older than internet and I combined. Did someone just take Psychology 100 recently?

HJ

Re:When my mother had a stroke...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

The other thing that was odd, was the closer to the present it got, the slower it came back.

That's easily explained through general relitivity. As she travelled through time her "speed" in time increased, thus leading to a temporal dialation effect, slowing her down.

This is fantastic

[Placebo Messiah]

I just wanna say, you are a really smart buncha nerdy people. How you ended up on my TV isn't even relevant right now. I'm truly inspired by your fresh approach to scientific criticism and humour. kudos to you all and let the show go on!

This is fantastic

[Placebo Messiah]

I just wanna say, you are a really smart buncha nerdy people. How you ended up on my TV isn't even relevant right now. I'm truly inspired by your fresh approach to scientific criticism and humour. praise to you all and let the show go on!

Re:Is there a name for what *I* have?

[CmdrGravy]

I can't remember jokes either, no matter how hard I try to they all turn into the only joke I do know which is:

What do you call a three legged donkey ?
A wonky.

Re:In other news

[MoogMan]

Hey, I must be new here!

Re:Clive Wearing...

[Threni]

Imagine if everytime you loaded up a browser and went to Slashdot you saw the same story. You turn on the TV and it's still the same old shows... the same idiots in public office making the same mistakes... you still had to work too long for too little free time. You fire up your console but it's the same old games...the same music...the same movies... That must be terrible.

Re:Is there a name for what *I* have?

[skryche]

Thanks for the tip, J-- Jake? James?

Re:Mirror, mirror

[Tim Doran]

pfft. Happened to me this morning.

Just how the hell did I become 35?

I wonder

[WormholeFiend]

Is he still looking for John G.?

Re:Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

[BTO]

The second time he saw it, he said it reminds him of movies from his childhood.