Synonyms
Alcoholic amnestic disorder; Korsakoff amnestic syndrome; Korsakoff (Korsakov) psychosis; Polyneuritis psychosis
Definition
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. The acute phase of the disorder is called Wernicke encephalopathy and is characterized by confusion, ataxia, and oculomotor palsy. The chronic phase, called Korsakoff syndrome, is characterized by anterograde and retrograde amnesia and a propensity to confabulation. WKS is most frequently associated with long-standing alcohol consumption, but can also result from other disorders leading to nutritional insufficiency. In chronic alcoholics, thiamine deficiency is caused both by reduced intake and reduced absorption, the former due to inadequate nutrition and the latter caused by alcohol-related intestinal damage. As these symptoms resolve with thiamine replacement therapy, an inability to form new memories and a propensity to produce stories to fill memory gaps...
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Lafleche, G., Verfaellie, M. (2018). Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1164
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1164
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