The reorganization of brain function for epileptic patients has had limited investigation, but imaging results show that it may occur. Rehabilitation
Approaches used to treat those with anterograde amnesia often use interventions which focus on compensatory techniques, such as beepers, written notes, diaries or through intensive training programs involving the active participation of the individual concerned, along with their supporting network of family and friends. In this perspective, environmental adaptation techniques are used, such as the compensatory technique education to training (exercise), organizational strategies, visual imagery and verbal labeling. In addition, other techniques are also used in rehabilitation, such as implicit tasks, speech and mnemotechnic methods. So far, it has been proven that education techniques of compensatory strategies for memory disorders are effective in individuals with minor traumatic brain injuries. In moderately or severely injured individuals, effective interventions are those appealing to external aids, such as reminders in order to facilitate particular knowledge or skill acquisition. Reality orientation techniques are also considered; their purpose is to enhance orientation using stimulation and repetition of the basic orientation information. These techniques are regularly applied in populations of patients primarily presenting with dementia and head injuries. Controversies
Episodic versus semantic memory
As described above, patients with anterograde amnesia have a wide range of forgetfulness. Declarative memory can be further subdivided into episodic and semantic memory. Episodic memory is the recollection of autobiographical information with a temporal and/or spatial context, whereas semantic memory involves recall of factual information with no such association (language, history, geography, etc.).
Most data point to a "division of labor" among the parts of this system, although this is still being debated and is described in detail below.In animal models, researchers have shown monkeys with damage to both the hippocampus and its adjacent cortical regions were more severely impaired in terms of anterograde amnesia than monkeys with damage localized to hippocampal structures. However, conflicting data in another primate study point to the observation that the amount of tissue damaged does not necessarily correlate with the severity of the memory loss. Furthermore, the data do not explain the dichotomy that exists in the MTL memory system between episodic memory and semantic memory (described below).An important finding in amnesic patients with MTL damage is the impairment of memory in all sensory modalities – sound, touch, smell, taste, and sight. This reflects the fact that the MTL is a processor for all of the sensory modalities, and helps store these kind of thoughts into memory. In addition, subjects can often remember how to perform relatively simple tasks immediately (on the order of 10 seconds), but when the task becomes more difficult, even on the same time scale, subjects tend to forget. This demonstrates the difficulty of separating procedural memory tasks from declarative memory; some elements of declarative memory may be used in learning procedural tasks.MTL amnesic patients with localized damage to the hippocampus retain other perceptual abilities, such as the ability to intelligently function in society, to make conversation, to make ones bed, etc.