Abstract
The clinical phenomena of a disturbed performance of memory are quite multiform. Usually they are comprehended as dysmnesia, After brain injuries the retrograde amnesia and the anterograde amnesia can be seen. Regarding the different psychogenesis of the dysmnesia the following can we distinguished: amnesia by deficiency of experience; amnesia by disturbed retention; amnesia by disturbed recall; and localised amnesia. Then the relevancy of a disturbed vigilance for the different amnesia-forms is discussed. Finally a summary sketch is given of the pathophysiology of the dysmnesia after brain injuries.