Others, Mayeux explains, may be suffering from undiagnosed problems such as atherosclerosis, ministrokes or thyroid disorders. For still others, alcohol and drugs, legal or illegal, may be part of the problem. Any substances that depress the central nervous system, including anesthetics, throw a similarly wet blanket over the ability to form memories. Blood-pressure medicines and antidepressants may cause problems too, since the receptors they block in doing their job may play a role in memory formation. Heavy drinkers may need five full years of sobriety before all their memory breakers are re-engaged.
Many patients experience short-term memory loss after microsurgery for acoustic neuroma.
Most of the time this is a mild effect and is only temporary, though it can vary from person to person in severity and duration. Some patient advocates hold that cognitive impairment is only seen after surgery, and never after radiation. Nonetheless, per conversation with a Seattle doctor in July 2001, radiation would in some ways seem more likely to cause cognitive problems than surgery. This is because radiation is known to change brain cells, while the surgery for acoustic tumors would not appear to be affecting a part of the brain involved with cognition. At the same time, according to the doctor, more is continually being learned about the role and functions of the cerebellum, which is being found to have some cognitive functions.