The use of a fictional story to make up for gaps in memory.
The phenomenon occurs most commonly in chronic alcoholics suffering from Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome.
It may also occur with head injuries.
n. the invention of circumstantial but fictitious detail about events supposed to have occurred in the past. Usually this is to disguise an inability to remember past events. It may be a symptom of any form of loss of memory, but typically occurs in *Korsakoff’s syndrome.
n. total or partial loss of memory following physical injury, disease, drugs, or psychological trauma (see confabulation; fugue; repression). Anterograde amnesia is loss of memory for the events following a trauma; retrograde amnesia is loss of memory for events preceding the trauma. Some patients experience both types.... amnesia
an organic disorder affecting the brain that results in a memory defect in which new information fails to be learnt although events from the past are still recalled; *disorientation in time and place; and a tendency to unintentionally invent material to fill memory blanks (see confabulation). The commonest cause of the condition is untreated *Wernicke’s encephalopathy in the context of alcoholism. Large doses of thiamine are given as treatment. The condition often becomes chronic. [S. S. Korsakoff (1854–1900), Russian neurologist]... korsakoff’s syndrome
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