Korsakoff syndrome
noun
variants:
or Korsakoff's syndrome
also Korsakoff psychosis
or Korsakoff's psychosis
Medical Definition of Korsakoff syndrome
: a chronic memory disorder that is caused by brain damage related to a severe deficiency of thiamine (as that associated with alcoholism or malnutrition) and is characterized by impaired ability to form new memories and by memory loss for which the patient often attempts to compensate through confabulation
Note: Korsakoff syndrome is frequently preceded by Wernicke's encephalopathy.