Korsakoff's psychosis

9.1

Long-lasting memory problem with severe short-term memory loss caused by long-term heavy drinking

noun
/kɔrˈsɑːkɒfs saɪˈkoʊsɪs/

Specialized

: psicosis de Korsakoff

Without proper treatment, chronic alcoholics may develop Korsakoff's psychosis in addition to other neurological problems.

Examples

Short-term memory loss is the hallmark symptom of Korsakoff's psychosis.
The patient was diagnosed with Korsakoff's psychosis after a long history of alcohol abuse.
Don't Korsakoff's psychosis affect everyone the same way!
Korsakoff's psychosis is serious.
Short-term memory loss is the hallmark symptom of Korsakoff's psychosis.
The patient was diagnosed with Korsakoff's psychosis after a long history of alcohol abuse.
Without proper treatment, chronic alcoholics may develop Korsakoff's psychosis.

Synonyms

Korsakoff's syndrome

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Specialized

1 8.6

A long-lasting memory disorder that prevents making new memories but keeps older memories, often after heavy drinking

focuses on late alcoholism stage with severe short term memory impairment

Korsakoff syndrome

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Specialized

1 7.9

A brain disorder from long heavy drinking and lack of vitamin B1 that causes severe memory loss

highlights the disorder occurring in later alcoholism rather than naming the vitamin cause

Korsakov's syndrome

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Specialized

9.9

A long-lasting memory problem often after heavy drinking that makes a person lose recent memories but keep older ones

describes the condition by its occurrence in advanced alcoholism and memory pattern

Korsakov's psychosis

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Specialized

9.9

A long-lasting memory disorder after heavy drinking that makes people forget recent events but remember older ones

frames the issue specifically as severe short term memory impairment in late alcoholism

alcohol amnestic disorder

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Specialized

9.1

A serious loss of recent memory after long term heavy drinking while older memories stay

is the same disorder but emphasized as chronic with severe short term impairment

alcoholic dementia

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Specialized

7.8

A kind of memory loss caused by many years of heavy drinking that affects recent memories but not old ones

specifies the chronic memory disorder seen in later alcoholism stages rather than general dementia

polyneuritic psychosis

vsKorsakoff's psychosis

Archaic

9.9

A serious memory problem where heavy long-term drinkers lose recent memories but keep old ones

is focused on the chronic syndrome pattern of severe short term memory impairment

Surface Forms

Korsakoff's psychosis singular

Korsakoff's psychoses plural

Morphology

Korsakoff's + psychosis

This is an eponymous medical term: the proper name 'Korsakoff's' refers to a specific clinician and the syndrome named after them, and the precise meaning (a chronic memory disorder linked to alcoholism) is specialist knowledge not derivable from the parts. Even if a learner knows 'psychosis' as a general mental-disorder term, the specific clinical features tied to the name are unpredictable for a B1 learner, so the expression is not transparently compositional.

Etymology

Korsakoff's psychosis comes from a Russian doctor, Korsakoff, who first wrote about people who could not make new memories after long heavy drinking. That's why the term means 'a serious memory disorder' often with loss of 'short-term memory' in people with long-term alcohol problems.