Page 80 - Advanced Biblical Counseling Student Textbook

each ear and about an inch and a half straight in.) Damage to one or the other seems to produce
different results. With left-hippocampus damage, people have trouble remembering verbal information,
but they have no trouble recalling visual designs and locations. With right-hippocampus damage, the
problem is reversed.” 123

The Cerebellum
Although your hippocampus is a temporary processing site for your explicit memories, you could lose it
and still lay down memories for skills and conditioned associations. A doctor tells the story of a brain-
damaged patient whose amnesia left her unable to recognize her physician as, each day, he shook her
hand and introduced himself. One day, after reaching for his hand, she yanked hers back, for the
physician had pricked her with a tack in his palm. The next time he returned to introduce himself she
refused to shake his hand but couldn’t explain why. Having been classically conditioned, she just
wouldn’t do it. 124

The cerebellum, the brain region extending out from the rear of the brainstem, plays a key role in
forming and storing the implicit memories created by classical conditioning. With a damaged
cerebellum, people cannot develop certain conditioned reflexes, such as associating a tone with an
impending puff of air-and thus do not blink in anticipation of the puff. Implicit memory formation needs
the cerebellum. 125

Reflection: A neighbor comes to you for counsel. She tells you her father has experienced brain damage
in a car accident. She wonders why he can still play chess very well but has a hard time holding a
sensible conversation. What can you tell her? What advice would you give her? Write your reflection
below.

Retrieval

123 Ibid.
124 Ibid.
125 Ibid.

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