Ribot's law

[1] As Ribot was not a true experimentalist himself, this increased focus on the natural science basis of human mentality was manifested in an interest for case studies and diseases of dysfunction which helped to shape theories of psychological function.

Other historical accounts supporting the greater strength of older memories include some studies of aphasia starting as early as the late 1700s, in which bilingual patients recovered different languages with differential progress.

[5] Ribot's law states that following a disruptive event, patients will show a temporally graded retrograde amnesia that preferentially spares more distant memories.

[citation needed] Initially proposed in 1984 by Larry Squire, Neal Cohen, and Lynn Nadel, the standard model of systems consolidation is a contemporary theory used to explain the cognitive processes behind Ribot's law.

In the model, interaction between the medial temporal hippocampus (MTH) and multiple areas in the neocortex lead to the formation of a cortical trace which represents a single memory.

Initially, the memory trace (features of the experience represented by red circles) is weak in the neocortex and is reliant on its connections to the medial temporal hippocampal system (MTH) for retrieval.

While never explicitly described by Squire and colleagues, the timescale of MTH-dependence in memory formation and maintenance is believed to vary by species as well as by the extent of hippocampal damage.

This has been supported by case studies of human patients with MTH lesions who exhibit difficulties in remembering experiences and fact learned post-surgery, however are able to retain motor and skill memories such as how to ride a bike or perform mirror tracing tasks.