Look at Clive Wearing.

He has a working memory of about 7 seconds.

The following paragraph from Wikipedia:
Clive Wearing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
His love for his second wife Deborah, whom he married the year prior to his illness, is undiminished. He greets her joyously every time they meet, believing he has not seen her in years, even though she may have just left the room to fetch a glass of water.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmkiMlvLKto]YouTube - Life Without Memory: The Case of Clive Wearing, Part 1a[/ame]

He got a virus: Encephalitis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Following pargraph from the wikipedia entry:

Encephalitis lethargica is an atypical form of encephalitis which caused an epidemic from 1917 to 1928, resulting in millions of deaths worldwide. Those who survived sank into a semi-conscious state that lasted for decades until the Parkinsons drug L-dopa was used to revive those still alive in the late 1960s by Oliver Sacks.

There have been only a small number of isolated cases in the years since, though in recent years a few patients have shown very similar symptoms. The cause is now thought to be either a bacterial agent or an autoimmune response following infection

This might be of interest to those in the natural health and healing professions. Here's a sight on natural medicine relating to these sort of conditions:

I did an unusally large copy and paste if your'e interested from the above URL:
Spinal Virus Cures from the Earth Clinic Community.
B COMPLEX, LECITHIN, CLOVE AND LAVENDAR OILS

10/18/2006: Anonymous writes: "Dear Ted, I know you probably receive an extraordinary number of emails, but this one is different. I would like to know if you have written any books on home remedies, or if you would like to. I have been so fascinated at your knowledge and helpfulness.

I have a serious problem with no real solution yet.
My husband woke up three years ago, totally numb from his neck down to his little toe on the right side of the body. Slowly the numbness spread to the right side. Doctors suspected a stroke, did two CT scans, blood work, but all were negative. He is diabetic, but his sugar was near normal. His blood pressure was normal as well. The doctors sent him home on aspirin and Plavix. These caused this strapping Italian guy to bruise easily. I have been doing research on holistic topics for over fifteen years since I took four mini strokes at thirty-five. Since Plavix is nothing more than a glorified aspirin and there were no conclusive results regarding a stroke, we entreated our primary doctor to let my husband get an MRI.
The MRI results showed a swelling in his spine between C-5 and C-6 on the left side of his spine and C-6 and C-7 on the right side. Spinal stenosis had set in from two car accidents. We took the test results to a neurologist who said my husband did not have a tumor or multiple sclerosis, but that it was a viral infection that appeared somewhere in the body and went right to the injured area of his spine. When I asked if the doctor would do a PCR test to try to identify which virus that hit my husband's spine, the doctor said no because he would treat him the same way.watch and wait.
Since nothing more was done, I came home and studied the issue, called a well trained herbalist and then gave my husband olive leaf extract, elderberry extract, and cranberry extract plus a private labeled viral product with some Chinese herbs. Thankfully, this regiment took care of 90% of my husband's problem, but he still has numbness from the elbows to his finger tips after three years. He is being treated by a chiropractor which helps but the numbness gets worse with his working at his computer and when he gets very tired. I would appreciate help if possible and thank you for being so patient."

Ted from Bangkok, Thailand replies: "olive leaf extract, elderberry extract, and cranberry extract plus a private labeled viral product with some Chinese herbs.
Obviously your herbalist had advanced knowledge of antiviral herbs. Sambucol, the active components of black elderberry is already being used against the H5N1 bird flu virus.
Olive leaf extract, while impressive could have worked better in its original form of fresh olive leaves but of course are some of the most powerful antiviral compared to most antiviral drugs.
Cranberry's true antiviral and antifungal component is actually the benzoic acid, but obviously a common food preservative of both benzoic acid and sodium benzoate would have worked better in synergy. The future of antivirals and antibiotics while it might lay with limited number of herbal extracts including licorice extract could have been expanded to include food preservatives in general, including the metabisulfites, polysorbate, fulvic acid, etc.
The problem about this form of treatment is while it did kill the virus, this is a good thing, my approach has always been to solve the cause. The cause is yes, a virus, and we have to kill it, but another cause which we ignore so easily, is his suppressed immune system, which notably the minerals that we should include in his regimen such as zinc salts, magnesium, vitamin B complex, and kelp, which contains glyconutrients. A simple thought to use zinc, is not to use them as a mere form of minerals needed by the body, but to think of them as an antiviral and to reactive the immune system. A simple zinc salt can easily kill a serious foot and mouth disease, herpes simplex viruses, and the common cold.
As a result, the fact that he is numb might have to do with dormant virus still in his body. A virus can sit along the spinal column and lay dormant for years before his immune system levels are down, the stress levels are up, and the conditions worsens.
Very few people know that zinc salts combined with chelators, and certain food preservatives such as BHT, benzoic acid and other fat soluble food preservative could go much deeper to kill those viruses that lay dormant in the spinal column, which is one probable cause of his numbness after a long work on the computer.
The fact that he is diabetic but blood tests say he is not, the truth of the matter is most people in their adulthoods are low grade diabetes not yet recognized until it is too late. The blood test are less sensitive indicator, brix refractometer gauge between 1-10, or 1-25 where a urinary brix of 1.5-2 will tell you much better story.
Whatever the case, your husband should be helped greatly with some vitamin B complex, only 50 mg./day for most of the Bs should help him, with some small push of taking some vitamin B1 might help. Eat plenty of granulated lecithin along with food of every meal as lecithin is an effective antiviral too. Little has been mentioned about lecithin in most literature, but a variation of it has actually been done in a fight against AIDS in the early 1980s, but it is much more than just solubilizing oil soluble virus. Most food emulsifiers and food surfactants have these properties anyway, including turkey red oil.
In case of a virus in the spinal column, in my own personal observation, this will not help, it damages the oral damaged spinal column and allows the dormant virus to spread. A much preferred way to kill albeit somewhat effective is a very light application of clove oil and lavender oil along the spinal column at intervals of 15 minutes for up to 30 times. It should be mixed with some small amount of ethanol, if possible, to enhance transdermal delivery, but not really a requirement. Both lavender oil and clove oil are quite well known antivirals, and I will not go in the nitty gritty details of this, but what I can say is especially clove oils, has been very effective spinal antivirals especially of those dormant ones. It is quite hot, mind you, so if you are not used to, just apply it lightly.
This is just a brief overview of your husband's condition"

Here's a bit more information on diagnosis of conditions like this:
Encephalitis - CNN.com
Screening and diagnosis


Diagnosing encephalitis may involve:

• Spinal tap (lumbar puncture). The most common way to diagnose encephalitis is to analyze the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding your brain and spinal cord. A needle inserted into your lower spine extracts a sample of fluid for laboratory analysis, which may reveal the presence of an infection or an increased white blood count — a signal that your immune system is fighting an infection. Your cerebrospinal fluid may also be slightly bloody if hemorrhages have occurred. Diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis can be difficult, but advances in using sensitive DNA methods have allowed detection of the virus in spinal fluid.
• Electroencephalography (EEG). This procedure, which takes about a half-hour, measures the waves of electrical activity produced by your brain. It's often used to diagnose and manage seizure disorders. A number of small electrodes are attached to your scalp with paste or an elastic cap as you recline. You remain still during the test, but at times you may be asked to breathe deeply and steadily for several minutes or to stare at a patterned board. At times, a light may be flashed in your eyes. These actions are meant to stimulate your brain. The electrodes pick up the electrical impulses from your brain and send them to the EEG machine, which records your brain waves on a moving sheet of paper. An abnormal EEG result may suggest encephalitis, but a normal result does not rule out the disease.
• Brain imaging. A computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may reveal swelling of your brain. Or it may reveal another condition with signs and symptoms that are similar to encephalitis, such as a concussion. If encephalitis is suspected, brain imaging is often done before a spinal tap to look for evidence of elevated intracranial pressure.
• Brain biopsy. Rarely, if diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis isn't possible using DNA methods or by CT or MRI scans, your doctor may take a small sample of your brain tissue. This sample is analyzed in the laboratory to see if the virus is present. Your doctor may try treatment with antiviral medications before suggesting brain biopsy.
• Blood testing. Your doctor can confirm the presence of West Nile virus in your body by drawing a sample of your blood for laboratory analysis. If you have West Nile virus, an analysis of your blood sample may show a rising level of an antibody to the virus, a positive DNA test for the virus or a positive culture of the virus.