MRI links 14 people with damaged hippocampi, 12 who had abused opioids
After 20 years of treating patients with neurological problems, Yuval Zabar, MD, a neurologist in Burlington, Massachusetts, discovered something he had never seen before.
The story features 23-year-old Max Meehan celebrating his birthday at a dive bar in Boston. A fun-filled night with dancing and drinking turned into a night that changed his life forever.
Before heading home, Meehan met with his drug dealer to buy heroin. He got home and shot up—as he had done countless times before—and passed out on the couch. The next morning he woke up and collapsed when he tried to stand.
After hours at the hospital and dozens of tests, doctors failed to figure out what was wrong. The next day, one of the hospital’s neurologists gave Meehan a few standard memory tests and realized he was amnestic. After an MRI scan, a neurologist found two perfectly localized glowing orbs of white, on each side of the brain, near the hippocampus, the seahorse-shaped region that encodes new memories.
Five years later, Massachusetts doctors alone have identified 14 people with damaged hippocampi who lost their ability to form new memories suddenly—12 of whom had a history of using heroin or other opioids.
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Jodelle joined TriMed Media Group in 2016 as a senior writer, focusing on content for Radiology Business and Health Imaging. After receiving her master's from DePaul University, she worked as a news reporter and communications specialist.