Clive Wearing is an English musician and musicologist, who is considered to be the sufferer of one of the most devastating cases of amnesia. Wearing contacted herpes encephalitis in 1985, and the virus attacked his brain, mainly affecting the hippocampus. As a result of the infection, he is unable to encode new information and transfer memories to his long term memory. Interestingly, his love for his wife and the ability to both play the piano and conduct a choir has remained intact.