Former “TODAY” show anchor Katie Couric shared that she had a bout of transient global amnesia. Transient global amnesia is an episode of confusion that comes on suddenly in a person who is otherwise alert, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Additionally, when a person is experiencing an episode of transient global amnesia, they are unable to create new memories. This means they will forget the memory of recent events.
On the media platform Substack, Katie wrote, “It was Saturday, June 27, 2026. But when I was asked the month, the year, and who was president, I got them wrong.”
I wasn’t sure of the month. I thought it was 2024. And I believed Joe Biden was president.
The 69-year-old veteran journalist remembered that she was in Aspen and that she had spent the morning at a farmers market where she got a bag of kettle corn, peaches, nectarines, an iced coffee, and “a cute straw hat I really didn’t need.” However, when Couric and her husband John Molner drove to the Aspen Ideas Festival later that day, her mind was blank.
Transient global amnesia impacts between 3.4 to 10.4 individuals per 10,000 per year, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, for individuals 50 and over, the rate of transient global amnesia jumps to 23.5 to 32 per 100,000 per year.
“Patients typically present with a sudden onset of memory loss lasting several hours, featuring retrograde and pronounced anterograde amnesia,” the NIH said. “Patients retain self-identity and demonstrate no neurological or cognitive deficits. They remain cooperative and can name objects, with no history of trauma or epilepsy. Symptoms last between 1 and 24 hours, typically occurring later in the day rather than after waking.”
Those who experience transient global amnesia, they remember who they are and recognize people they know well. They just won’t remember where they are or how they got there. Or they may be confused on what is happening around them. The individual may repeatidly ask the same questions because they have forgotten the answer they had just gotten. They may also draw a blank when they are asked to remember things that happened a day, month, or even a year ago.
“Once resolved, the symptoms of transient global amnesia rarely recur,” the NIH added.
By Sheena
Sources:
NBC News: Katie Couric reveals diagnosis of temporary amnesia syndrome
Mayo Clinic: Transient global amnesia
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