Final answer:
The friend's ability to remember procedural tasks like tying shoes but not recent conversations suggests anterograde amnesia, a condition often linked to hippocampal damage that impairs the formation of new episodic or semantic memories while sparing procedural memory.
Step-by-step explanation:
Your friend's experience of remembering how to tie his shoes but not being able to recall recent conversations is indicative of a specific type of memory loss known as anterograde amnesia. This condition often results from brain trauma where the ability to form new episodic or semantic memories is impaired, yet procedural memory remains intact. One of the brain structures commonly associated with this type of amnesia is the hippocampus, which plays a crucial role in transferring information from short-term to long-term memory. Cases like H.M. and Clive Wearing provide insight into this condition, where despite significant memory impairment, the ability to learn certain types of new information, like motor tasks, persists.