[typing sound]
>>[narrator] Henry Molaison is not a well man.
A childhood fall has damaged his brain irreparably.
>>[Henry] Gotcha. >>Well? Well, what is it?
>>[Henry] Uh, must do something. >>Hmm.
>>[Henry] Aah! >>Come on. Henry.
>>[narrator] The accident has left him with severe epilepsy.
>>Mike! Mike! Henry, come on, boy. Don't do this.
>>[narrator] By his late 20s, he's having over 10 fits a day.
>>Henry! Henry! Henry! Mike! Mike, where are you?
>>[narrator] He can't live alone, can't drive. The fits can take him at any time.
>>Mike! Mike, where are you?
>>[Dwayne Godwin] The normal electrical activity of the brain occurs in regular patterns like this.
But during a seizure, abnormal rhythms are established that wash across the brain,
using the brain's own communication lines.
The net result is that the brain loses control of the body,
and it can result in tonic-clonic seizures, short-term memory loss,
and, in some circumstances, even death.
>>[narrator] Dr. William Beecher Scoville is an authority on brain disorders.
But Henry Molaison has him stumped.
He's tried every known epileptic drug, but nothing works.
>>[Scoville] Ah, Henry.
>>[Michael Stevens] Brain science today is in its infancy, but in the 1950s,
it had barely reached conception. There was a rough idea of what areas
of the brain were responsible for which processes,
but the ways they interacted or worked together weren't really known.
In fact, most of what was known was only known because of people
who had survived brain injuries, and so everything new that was attempted
was a step in the dark.
>>[narrator] Scoville is a charismatic, high-octane risk taker.
To help Molaison, he got a new and radical idea.
>>[Henry] Story of my life, Doc. >>[Scoville] I'd like to try something, Henry.
Usually when a brain short-circuits like yours,
we take out half a region called the hippocampus.
Only your case is so severe, I'd like to take out the whole thing.
Now, it's never been done before, but I've got a hunch it'll work.
>>[Stevens] It's thought that some epileptic seizures may be caused
by an excess of the neurotransmitter glutamate in the brain.
Now, when there's too much glutamate, an excess of calcium is released,
and inside the brain, that can be very dangerous.
Now, the hippocampus generates glutamate,
and so removing it should decrease calcium levels and decrease the frequency of seizures.
>>[Henry] Uh-huh. I don't know, Doc. Sounds kind of risky.
>>[Scoville] Life is risk, Henry. And to be honest, with the life you have...
>>[Henry] Aah! >>[Scoville] Bob!
What have you got to lose?
>>[Susan Lederer] Scoville was willing to perform this surgery
because his patient was in desperate need. He had very uncontrolled epilepsy.
He had very little quality of life.
Still, he was playing a little bit fast and loose because he didn't know what the outcome would be.
>>[narrator] Despite his uncertainty, Henry agrees to the surgery.
>>[Scoville] Cauterize.
>>[narrator] Dr.Scoville burns out Henry's entire hippocampus.
Time will tell if he is being bold...or reckless.
>>[Stevens] In all new surgical procedures, there's an element of risk,
but there's also a first time when it must be tried in a human patient.
These days, we would review procedures like this through institutional review boards,
but in Scoville's time, much more was left to the discretion of the surgeon.
>>[narrator] After a few days, the signs are good.
>>[Scoville] Good morning, Henry. >>[Henry] Hey. Not a single fit, Doc.
>>[Scoville] Tremendous. Nothing for days now.
Henry, this is Dr. Brenda Milner. She'll be doing some tests with you today.
>>[Henry] It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Oh, and you're working with the best, you know.
Doc Scoville is an ace. >>[Scoville] Enjoy your breakfast, Henry.
>>[narrator] Henry's epilepsy seems to be cured. >>Milner] So, what's the problem?
>>[Scoville] Just wait.
>>[Stevens] Dr. Scoville didn't know what the hippocampus really did.
I mean, no one did. The operation was pure trial and error.
What he did know was that less hippocampus meant fewer seizures.
>>[Scoville] Morning. >>[Henry] Hey. Steady as a Chevy, Doc.
>>[Milner] That's great. >>[Henry] Hi, I'm Henry.
Pleased to meet you, ma'am. >>[Scoville] See what I mean?
>>[narrator] Henry's operation has done more than affect his epilepsy.
Henry's memories up to the operation are largely undamaged.
>>[Henry] We went to Florida. Mom and dad took turns driving.
I had my head out the window, listening to the engine the whole way down.
>>[Milner] Good. Now, what do you remember about yesterday?
>>[Henry] Um...
Now -- now I think about it, not a lot.
>>[narrator] But he cannot create new memories at all.
>>[Milner] How about this morning?
>>[Henry] No, I -- I don't remember.
>>[Milner] Henry, can you tell me what you just had for lunch?
>>[narrator] Henry Molaison is a tragic victim and a scientific miracle.
Something has gone wrong with Henry Molaison's brain during radical surgery to treat his epilepsy.
>>[Scoville] Henry, this is Dr. Brenda Milner.
>>[Henry] It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am.
It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am.
>>[narrator] Henry's memory is broken.
But his condition could provide unique insights into the workings of the human brain.
>>[Stevens] We can experiment on the brains of mice all we want.
But a mouse cannot tell us what it's thinking or feeling.
So the uncomfortable truth is that Henry was a godsend to brain researchers.
By looking at what he could or could not do, they could figure out how memory works.
>>[Milner] Okay, Henry, I'd like you to remember the number 273.
Can you do that? >>[Henry] Got it. Yeah. 273.
>>[Milner] Right. I'll be back in 15 minutes.
Don't forget -- 273. >>[Henry] Uh-huh.
>>[narrator] The doctors are fascinated by what he can and can't recall.
>>[Milner] And the number is? >>[Henry] 273.
>>[Milner] Right. How did you remember it? >>[Henry] I just kept thinking about it.
>>[Milner] That's wonderful.
>>[Henry] I'm sorry. Have we met? I'm Henry Molaison.
>>[Milner] So, what can we say? Quarter an hour?
>>[narrator] Henry's condition transforms our understanding of memory.
Our immediate moment-to-moment impressions of the world are recorded in short-term memory.
>>[Milner] One hour, it goes down to? >>[narrator] But short-term memories are fleeting.
To remain in the brain, they must be transferred into long-term memory,
filed away for future recall.
>>[Stevens] We know, thanks to Henry now,
that the hippocampus is crucial in the creation of new long-term memories.
It takes memories of what's happening now and makes them into things
that we can recall about last week, about last year.
They're not stored in the hippocampus,
but the hippocampus is very important in creating them.
>>[narrator] Henry becomes the most famous patient in neuroscience,
a man imprisoned in the present.
>>[Milner] So, tell me what you remember about your last fit.
>>[narrator] But for Dr. Scoville, life moves on.
He, too, must learn to forget.
>>[Lederer] Scoville's surgical procedure made him world-famous.
But we know from some of his colleagues that he felt guilty
about the destruction that he had created.
There is a cost to going first. It's a cost that someone has to bear.
>>[narrator] Some people will work with Henry for over 40 years.
>>[Milner] Good morning. I'm Dr. Milner. >>[Henry] Good morning, ma'am.
>>[narrator] And every morning,
they will have to introduce themselves to him for the first time.
>>[Henry] Wow. This looks real interesting. I'm Henry, by the way. Delighted to meet you.
Where is Doc Scoville? >>[Milner] Well, I'd like to work with you
today if that's okay, Henry. I'm gonna ask you to take a pencil.
>>[Henry] Mm-hmm.
>>[MIlner] And I just want you to draw around the star as best as you can, okay?
>>[Henry] All right. >>[Milner] And I'm gonna take some notes, all right?
>>[Stevens] Tracing a line while watching your hand in a mirror
is totally counterintuitive. Nobody can come to that task and get it right away.
What it takes is practice.
>>[Milner] Hi. I'm Dr. Milner.
>>[Henry] Good morning, ma'am. >>[Milner] You want to take a seat over here?
>>[narrator] Henry has no idea he's tried this before.
>>[Henry] Hello. I'm Henry Molaison. >>Hi.
>>[Henry] Well, now, what have you got here?
>>[narrator] His defective memory prevents him from remembering his many previous attempts.
Yet each time, Henry's skill improves.
It's as though his body remembers what his mind cannot.
>>[Henry] Well, that was kind of easy. [Milner laughs]
>>[narrator] Henry reveals that our understanding of memory is hopelessly simplistic.
>>[Stevens] There is not just one type of memory.
There are at least two -- procedural and declarative.
Declarative memories are the things that you remember remembering --
the places you've been, things you've said to people, things they've said to you.
>>[Henry] We went to Florida.
>>[Stevens] But procedural memory allows us to accomplish tasks --
physical ones, like driving a car or riding a bike.
Now, you can drive in a car and have a conversation with somebody,
and when you reach your destination, you will remember the conversation.
That's declarative memory. But you won't remember all
of the thinking it took to operate the vehicle and successfully get to your destination,
which is procedural memory.
>>[Henry] Hello, I'm Henry. >>[Milner] Hi, Henry. Take a seat.
>>[narrator] Once he's learned a new skill, even years later, Henry never forgets it.
>>[Henry] Well, now, what have you got here?
>>[Godwin] You could say that Henry's bad luck was our good luck.
Through Henry, we learned about things like declarative and procedural memory,
and we learned their importance in the fight against diseases
like Dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
If you'd ever met Henry, he wouldn't remember you,
but we'll never forget Henry's contribution to science.
>>[Henry] Gotcha. >>[narrator] But every day,
Henry wakes up pretty much the same 27-year-old man who had radical surgery.
>>[Henry] Hello, Dr. Scoville? Hey, Doc, you in there?
>>[narrator] He remembers his 27th birthday... >>[Henry] This place has really changed.
>>[narrator] ...but not his 50th. >>[Henry] How'd he do it so fast?
>>[narrator] ...or even his 70th. >>[Henry] So, what's this?
>>[narrator] The truth has to be hidden from him.
His 27 years of memories are trapped in an old man's body.
>>[Henry] Dr. Scoville! Hey, Doc! >>[Milner] Henry, Henry, you shouldn't be in here.
But it's -- no, no. Come on.
Don't worry. Come on, Henry.
Come on. Come on.
Now, listen, Henry, don't worry. I promise tomorrow it'll all be fine, okay?