View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/whathappen...

When Henry Molaison (now widely known as H.M.) cracked his skull in an accident, he began blacking out and having seizures. In an attempt to cure him, daredevil surgeon Dr. William Skoville removed H.M.'s hippocampus. Luckily, the seizures did go away — but so did his longterm memory! Sam Kean walks us through this astonishing medical case, detailing everything H.M. taught us about the brain and memory.

Lesson by Sam Kean, animation by Anton Bogaty.