Life with anterograde amnesia

Frank, a 49-year-old family man and husband, suffered cardiac arrest during a routine procedure. Since then, he has suffered from anterograde amnesia. This means that it is no longer possible for him to remember new things. Even important emotional experiences are quickly forgotten. His brain tries again and again to make sense of his environment. This requires a lot of energy and drains the attention span. Frank can’t take on anything anymore. He cannot plan anything for the future. An ever-widening gap in his identity emerges. Between who he used to be and who he is now. Although new things are permanently present in everyday life, they no longer become part of his personality. For Frank, time stood still before his surgery.
His treating neuropsychologist Helene Schwarz reported, „Since he doesn’t feel sick, it’s especially hard to motivate him. Doing brain performance training doesn’t fit with his self-image. Frank would need individual neuropsychological therapy, but outpatient care is poor. Neuropsychologists are few and far between. Some health insurers don’t even know that this specialty exists. Nor do they know what can be accomplished here. Frank’s training potential is thus not being exploited, and if he does not train, his cognitive performance will continue to decline. In addition, he rarely has a sense of achievement. Although he cannot remember failures, it can be observed that he is no longer the cheerful person he used to be. He is becoming more and more listless. The family suffers greatly as a result.“

Frank’s experience with teora® mind

„VR goggles were a completely new experience for Frank. He’s usually skeptical of computer-based training.“ Nevertheless, Helene Schwarz decided to use teora mind in his therapy. „We didn’t think he would be able to handle the operation. We thought he would be overwhelmed with the new environment and take the glasses off right away. But the opposite was the case: Frank had enormous fun trying out the virtual world. He coped well and was very focused – „like being in a tunnel. He is otherwise extremely distractible. The application required attention and memory skills on the one hand and action planning on the other. We have rarely seen him so motivated since the illness. He was so happy to feel a sense of achievement, proud to have completed the level. He would have loved to keep playing.“