Working (recent) memory is generally impaired and people with KP are typically unable to remember incidents or episodes from their past, they may also have difficulty in learning new facts, concepts and language. Confabulation may also occur in KP.¹ This may be the unprovoked outpouring of erroneous memories, i.e. events that have not happened, or memory distortions.

Without adequate treatment, up to 84% of patients with WE are found to develop Korsakoff’s psychosis when followed up long-term.³

WE is an acute neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency.¹ Whereas KP can be defined as: “an abnormal mental state in which memory and learning are affected out of all proportion to other cognitive functions in an otherwise alert and responsive patient.”¹

KP may be caused in part by thiamine deficiency, but also deficiencies of other nutrients and alcohol-induced neurotoxicity.⁴ The condition typically follows or accompanies WE, however symptoms of KP may not become apparent until the confusional state associated with WE resolves.⁵

WE can be successfully treated before the onset of irreversible brain damage.⁶ However, if left untreated, 84% will develop KP when followed up long-term.⁷

Symptoms of Korsakoff’s psychosis include:

• Impaired recall of old information (retrograde amnesia)^1,4
• Lack of insight⁴
• False recollections/fictions: “confabulation”¹
• Poor acquisition of new information (anterograde amnesia)¹
• Disorientation in space and time⁴
• Poor recognition of familiar people¹

Of the 84% who developed Korsakoff’s Psychosis^:3