Would you have the exact same signature if you had amnesia?

Question

would you be able to sign paperwork with your name the exact same way you did before the amnesia?

Answer 1

You might, depending exactly what brain damage occured, and how your signature was stored in your brain to begin with. Your brain has lots of different pathways for processing any type of information, including memories, depending how the information is going to be two. Calling up information you're going to use conciously (for example, remembering how to solve a difficult pathway) uses different pathways than calling up information you're going to use subconciously (like moving your vocal cords the right way to make a word, or avoiding touching fire). It's absolutely possible to damage the pathways that deal with concious memory recall but not subconsious. A person with this type of damage would actually remember everything, they just wouldn't know it. So they might turn to look at someone who says their name, even though they honestly believe they don't know what their name is. I think it quite possible that someone could have damage that would allow them to sign their name, but not be able to tell you what their name is.

There are various other types of brain damage that can cause amnesia that would not allow the patient to remember how to sign his name. For example, the patient might have lost the ability to call up motor memories as well as concious ones. In that case, the patient might not be able to write at all.

There's a phenomenon called blind sight in which a patient becomes blind due to damage to nervous system structures invovled with processing visual information (so his retinas are working perfectly, and the damage is later one), and although they report not being able to see, they will duck to avoid objects in their path, and can accurately reach out and grab an object when instructed. Basically, concious processing of visual infomation doesn't work, but unconcious processing is still intact. I'm thinking of the signature thing as being kind of similar to this, just with the input being memories rather than visual information.

Answer 2

There are lots of different types of amnesia do it would all depend on what type you have. If you have the kind where you forget everything pre incident, i would say no. If you have the type where you forget everything post-incident i would say yes. And then there is catagorical amnesia when you forget everything of a particular catagory. If personal information was in that catagory, i would say you would have a different sig.

Answer 3

Retrograde (can't remember anything before) - No. You wouldn't have the same signature, as you wouldn't have any memory of the isgnature, and the only reason our hands "remember" the movements is because they're in our long-term memory. However, the ability for us to retrive stuff from our long-term memory is affected in Retrograde amnesia.

Anterograde (can't remember anything after) - Yes, you would, since the signature has moved to long-term memory.

For other types of memory loss, it would depend.

Answer 4

I would say yes u can sign the same because u lost ur memory not the ability to write get me? u didn't forget how 2 tie ur shoes u just forgot who u were

Answer 5

i bet you would. it seems to come as second nature, i do it without even thinking about it! some things would be different, like i have a z in my last name and i always think before writing that letter, but the rest would be the same. it's jsut natural motion like walking and breathing....

Answer 6

I think that you might because your hand and muscles in your hand are accustomed to signing a certain way. I don't know, it's just a guess.

Answer 7

i don't have amnesia and still i can never get my signature right.

Answer 8

if you had amnesia you wouldnt know what name to write

Answer 9

Ah, but what name would you sign?

Answer 10

I Dont Know, I C C C ant REMEMBER>