Retrograde Amnesia Produced by Electron Beam Exposure: Casual Parameters and Duration of Memory Loss.

摘要

The production of retrograde amnesia (RA) upon electron beam exposure has been investigated. RA production was evaluated using a single-trial avoidance task across a 10,000 dose range for 10, 1, and 0.1 microsecond pulsed exposures. The dose-response curve obtained at each pulse duration showed significant RA production. The most effective dose range was 0.1-10 rad at a dose rate of 1,000,000 rad/sec. By employing a 10 rad (1,000,000 rad/s) pulse, a memory loss of the events occurring in the previous 4 sec was demonstrated. The conclusion was that the RA effect might be due to sensory system activation which provided a novel stimulus that masked previous stimuli.