By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 00:09 EST, 11 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 00:44 EST, 11 July 2013 . From the moment of his ill-fated operation in 1953 Henry Molaison became world famous, yet few people knew his name. Until his death at the age of 82 in 2008, the Connecticut man who had lost his ability to form and store new memories was known simply as HM to the scores of scientists and researchers studying his case. Although he had been a willing test subject for neurologists since 1957, Mr Molaison's unique condition whereby his memory is wiped after about 30 seconds, was protected by those who researched him and the nursing home staff who cared for him. Present tense: Henry Molaison lost the ability to form and retain new memories after experimental brain surgery in 1953 . 'His case appeared in so many textbooks . they inspired students to pursue careers in neuroscience. The world's . fascination with memory took off,' Suzanne Corkin, who studied . Mr Molaison from 1962 until his death, said. 'Everyday people wanted to know what it was . like to always live in the moment ... He touched an unknown number of . lives,' she told the Hartford Courant. Mr Molaison, who had suffered from epilepsy when he was a teenager, was 27 when a famous surgeon removed part of his brain in the belief that it would ease his seizures. From the moment William Beecher Scoville operated on Mr Molaison, he lost the ability to retain new information after about 30 seconds. While Mr Molaison may have lost the ability to learn, his condition helped move forward knowledge of the brain. Family: Henry Molaison with his parents Lizzie and Gus, who cared for him before he moved into a Connecticut nursing home . Lifetime's work: Suzanne Corkin has written about her decades of studying Henry Molaison . Bright: Henry Molaison was 27 when surgery to help ease his epilepsy robbed him of his memory-making ability . 'Henry taught us so much about the . brain. He taught us that you can be smart and still have a horrible . memory. He taught us that memory was localized in the hippocampal area,' Ms Corkin said. 'He taught us that not all kinds of learning memory was . impaired in amnesia. In Henry, what was preserved was motor skills, . conditioning ... and procedures.' The surgery that was supposed to ease Mr Molaison's epilepsy instead trapped him permanently in the moment. Although he was never able to form a new memory, Ms Corkin said that he was nearly always happy, friendly and was enthusiastic about helping researchers. 'He . always lived in the moment, fully accepting the events of daily life. From the time of the operation, every new person he met was forever a . stranger, yet he approached each one with openness and trust. He . remained as good natured and pleasant as the polite, quiet person his . high-school classmates knew,' Ms Corkin wrote. She added that he also liked to make jokes, telling NPR: 'He had a wonderful sense of humor, and he would come up with little quips that were appropriate to a specific moment, nothing that he had made up before, rehearsed or he knew from his preoperative life.' Ms Corkin, who studied Mr Molaison's case until his death, and who was also raised in Hartford, Connecticut, has now written a book about the man who had such a lasting impact on memory research. Long term loss: Henry at his family home in 1958, four years after experimental surgery led to memory loss . Her book, Permanent Present Tense, gives more details about Mr Molaison's life and her observations of him during the time she knew him. Ms Corkin also has a connection to the doctor who performed the ill-fated surgery on him. Her family lived opposite him when she was a schoolgirl. When the surgeon operated on Mr Molaison however, he damaged his hippocampus, which is responsible for long-term memory. 'We didn't know that memory was . localized in that particular part of the brain. That was one of the big . discoveries that came from studying Henry,' Ms Corkin said. Her book includes research findings as well as details of Mr Molaison's daily routine and his brief thoughts on his life. One of the first aspects of his conditions scientists noticed was that intelligence and memory are separate entities. After the operation his IQ remained slightly above average and his ability to solve problems was unaffected by the operation. Scientists discovered that although he could not remember the tasks they had set him, his ability to complete them improved each time. And, although he met Corkin after his operation, over time he became familiar with her, believing that he had known her at high school. One of his favorite pastimes was also completing crossword puzzles in the nursing home where he lived, after his parents were no longer able to care for him. Unchanged: Henry pictured in the 1970s. His inability to form new memories left him trapped in the life he lived before the 1953 operation . However, he was aware he had trouble remembering and once said: 'At this moment everything looks clear to me, but what happened just before? That's what worries me. It's like waking from a dream. I just don't remember,' according to The Daily Telegraph. Although Mr Molaison was considered one of the most important case studies in brain research, Dr Corkin said the sense of his importance was lost on him. 'Every now and then I would tell him he was very famous and a lot of people knew about him in the world of scientists,' Dr Corkin told NPR. 'He would get this little sheepish grin and say, "Oh, you know, isn't that nice". You could see that it was heartwarming for him. But... of course, as soon as he was distracted, he forgot.' Mr Moliason is still making a contribution to science. His brain was donated for research purposes after his death.
Henry Molaison was studied by hundreds of scientists .
Connecticut man lost his memory after experimental brain surgery in 1953 .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 00:09 EST, 11 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 00:44 EST, 11 July 2013 . From the moment of his ill-fated operation in 1953 Henry Molaison became world famous, yet few people knew his name. Until his death at the age of 82 in 2008, the Connecticut man who had lost his ability to form and store new memories was known simply as HM to the scores of scientists and researchers studying his case. Although he had been a willing test subject for neurologists since 1957, Mr Molaison's unique condition whereby his memory is wiped after about 30 seconds, was protected by those who researched him and the nursing home staff who cared for him. Present tense: Henry Molaison lost the ability to form and retain new memories after experimental brain surgery in 1953 . 'His case appeared in so many textbooks . they inspired students to pursue careers in neuroscience. The world's . fascination with memory took off,' Suzanne Corkin, who studied . Mr Molaison from 1962 until his death, said. 'Everyday people wanted to know what it was . like to always live in the moment ... He touched an unknown number of . lives,' she told the Hartford Courant. Mr Molaison, who had suffered from epilepsy when he was a teenager, was 27 when a famous surgeon removed part of his brain in the belief that it would ease his seizures. From the moment William Beecher Scoville operated on Mr Molaison, he lost the ability to retain new information after about 30 seconds. While Mr Molaison may have lost the ability to learn, his condition helped move forward knowledge of the brain. Family: Henry Molaison with his parents Lizzie and Gus, who cared for him before he moved into a Connecticut nursing home . Lifetime's work: Suzanne Corkin has written about her decades of studying Henry Molaison . Bright: Henry Molaison was 27 when surgery to help ease his epilepsy robbed him of his memory-making ability . 'Henry taught us so much about the . brain. He taught us that you can be smart and still have a horrible . memory. He taught us that memory was localized in the hippocampal area,' Ms Corkin said. 'He taught us that not all kinds of learning memory was . impaired in amnesia. In Henry, what was preserved was motor skills, . conditioning ... and procedures.' The surgery that was supposed to ease Mr Molaison's epilepsy instead trapped him permanently in the moment. Although he was never able to form a new memory, Ms Corkin said that he was nearly always happy, friendly and was enthusiastic about helping researchers. 'He . always lived in the moment, fully accepting the events of daily life. From the time of the operation, every new person he met was forever a . stranger, yet he approached each one with openness and trust. He . remained as good natured and pleasant as the polite, quiet person his . high-school classmates knew,' Ms Corkin wrote. She added that he also liked to make jokes, telling NPR: 'He had a wonderful sense of humor, and he would come up with little quips that were appropriate to a specific moment, nothing that he had made up before, rehearsed or he knew from his preoperative life.' Ms Corkin, who studied Mr Molaison's case until his death, and who was also raised in Hartford, Connecticut, has now written a book about the man who had such a lasting impact on memory research. Long term loss: Henry at his family home in 1958, four years after experimental surgery led to memory loss . Her book, Permanent Present Tense, gives more details about Mr Molaison's life and her observations of him during the time she knew him. Ms Corkin also has a connection to the doctor who performed the ill-fated surgery on him. Her family lived opposite him when she was a schoolgirl. When the surgeon operated on Mr Molaison however, he damaged his hippocampus, which is responsible for long-term memory. 'We didn't know that memory was . localized in that particular part of the brain. That was one of the big . discoveries that came from studying Henry,' Ms Corkin said. Her book includes research findings as well as details of Mr Molaison's daily routine and his brief thoughts on his life. One of the first aspects of his conditions scientists noticed was that intelligence and memory are separate entities. After the operation his IQ remained slightly above average and his ability to solve problems was unaffected by the operation. Scientists discovered that although he could not remember the tasks they had set him, his ability to complete them improved each time. And, although he met Corkin after his operation, over time he became familiar with her, believing that he had known her at high school. One of his favorite pastimes was also completing crossword puzzles in the nursing home where he lived, after his parents were no longer able to care for him. Unchanged: Henry pictured in the 1970s. His inability to form new memories left him trapped in the life he lived before the 1953 operation . However, he was aware he had trouble remembering and once said: 'At this moment everything looks clear to me, but what happened just before? That's what worries me. It's like waking from a dream. I just don't remember,' according to The Daily Telegraph. Although Mr Molaison was considered one of the most important case studies in brain research, Dr Corkin said the sense of his importance was lost on him. 'Every now and then I would tell him he was very famous and a lot of people knew about him in the world of scientists,' Dr Corkin told NPR. 'He would get this little sheepish grin and say, "Oh, you know, isn't that nice". You could see that it was heartwarming for him. But... of course, as soon as he was distracted, he forgot.' Mr Moliason is still making a contribution to science. His brain was donated for research purposes after his death.
age of 82 in 2008, the Connecticut man who had condition whereby his memory is wiped after about brain surgery in 1953 . 'His case appeared in so Molaison . Bright: Henry Molaison was 27 when