Final answer:
Anterograde amnesia is the inability to form new memories after a traumatic event, such as a head injury, affecting the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory.
Step-by-step explanation:
Type of Amnesia After a Head Injury
The type of amnesia that occurs when you cannot remember what happened AFTER you fell down and hit your head is known as anterograde amnesia. This form of amnesia is specifically associated with the loss of the ability to create new memories following the event that caused the amnesia. In this case, the individual can recall past events and information but is unable to form new episodic or semantic memories.
Anterograde amnesia often arises from trauma to the brain, which can disrupt the normal functioning of the hippocampus, a key region involved in memory consolidation. As a result, the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory is impaired, making it difficult to remember new information after the injury. Unlike retrograde amnesia, which is characterized by an inability to recall past memories, anterograde amnesia affects the formation of new memories going forward.