Korsakoff's Syndrome - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

• It is probable that Boston Corbett, the man who shot John Wilkes Booth, suffered from Korsakoff's syndrome later in life due to his pre-and-post war profession as a hatter, and his eventual madness.
• Strangers is a play by Edward Einhorn based on the syndrome.
• In the Half-Life 2 mod Korsakovia, the player character Christopher is under treatment for Korsakoff's Syndrome.
• In the television show House, season 1 episode "Histories," Dr. House diagnoses a patient with Korsakoff's syndrome after she gives different explanations for a sprained wrist to different medical students who independently take her history.
• In the 1985 science fiction short story A Clean Escape by John Kessel, psychiatrist Dr. Evans (the protagonist) describes the symptoms of Korsakoff's Syndrome for her patient Mr. Havelman (the antagonist) and indicates that this may be the cause of his amnesia.
• Internet comedy sketch group Derrick Comedy features a man with Korsakoff's syndrome in their video "Progression of a Mad Hatter".
• In the episode "Keeping the Faith" of the television show Royal Pains, first aired on 17 July 2010, Korsakoff's syndrome is offered as a diagnosis for a female who had previously undergone a stomach reduction surgery.
• In the novel Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K. Dick, the main character's wife is diagnosed with the syndrome after years of drug and alcohol abuse.
• Davey Volner, winner of the 81st Glascock Prize, wrote a poem titled "Korsakoff's Syndrome".
• Dr. Butz, the attending physician in the movie, Critical Care (1997), requests the etiology and symptoms of Korsakoff's syndrome of his resident, Dr. Ernst.
• In the novel Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, as punishment for stealing cars prior to the events in the novel, the character Slick Henry was subjected to a process that induced Korsakoff's syndrome in him. He features the episodic memory loss characteristic of the syndrome, and builds cybernetic sculptures as therapy.
• In the season 1 episode "In Case Of Letting Go" of the television show A Gifted Man, Dr. Holt diagnoses his highschool sweetheart with Korsakoff's syndrome after an epidural hematoma.
• Dr. Daniel Pierce diagnoses a woman accused of killing her husband with Korsakoff's syndrome on the TV show Perception.