His story is well-known to any psychology student. In 1953, Henry underwent experimental brain surgery to cure his epilepsy. As a result, he lost the ability to remember any facts that he learned after the surgery. However, he could still learn how to do new things, and his ability to concentrate was unaffected. This was a major breakthrough in our understanding of memory–not only are there different types, but one type is associated with a specific region of the brain. A brief obituary is available here.
