ORGANIZATION OF MEMORY TRACES IN THE KORSAKOFF SYNDROME

Abstract

Karsten¹studied psychic saturation by directing normal subjects to perform simple drawings, like fence pickets, and simple designs continuously until the subjects were completely exhausted and refused to go on. She found dissolution of the original configuration in the course of such an experiment. The drawing became disorderly and loosely connected, devoid of definite boundaries and broken up into little independent fragments, and the larger portions were disintegrated. Two of us (F. J. C. and P. S.)²who studied verbal material with a similar method, found evidence of organizing forces and active processes during repetition of the recall of a story told once to the patient. In cases of organic memory disturbances, the evidence of acceleration and exaggeration of organizing processes was striking. A series of patients with Korsakoff's syndrome were examined during this investigation. One of us (L. B.) had collected a large mass of material concerning