posttraumatic amnesia
1
8.7
- noun
- /ˌpoʊsttrɔːˈmætɪk æmˈniːziə/
- Specialized
:
amnesia postraumática
- Doctors explained that posttraumatic amnesia can hinder a person's ability to recall events immediately after an accident.
Examples
-
The patient's recovery was complicated by the presence of posttraumatic amnesia that affected his memories of the incident.
-
The diagnosis is based on depth and length of coma, duration of posttraumatic amnesia, time to respond consistently, neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies, and measures of brainstem function.
Academic text (2001) -
After the car crash, she experienced posttraumatic amnesia, making it difficult for her to remember what had happened.
Synonyms
93
6.7
A loss of memory often after injury, illness, or trauma
40
3.4
A problem when a person cannot remember information or past experiences
1
9.1
Unable to form new memories after an injury or event, while older memories stay
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built: 'posttraumatic' means occurring after a traumatic event and 'amnesia' means loss of memory, so the combined meaning—memory loss following trauma—is directly derivable from the parts. Although it is a medical term with specific temporal nuance, the logic is straightforward and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand it.
Etymology
Posttraumatic amnesia breaks into clear parts: post ('after'), traumatic ('caused by an injury'), and amnesia ('memory loss'). It creates the image of someone who cannot remember events that happen right after a trauma, so it means 'memory loss after the injury'.