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Korsakoff's syndrome is an impaired memory syndrome caused by chronic alcoholism. A syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and have a common cause, representing a certain disease or abnormality. Korsakoff's syndrome is characterized by confusion, severely impaired memory of recent events (also known as anterograde amnesia), and an inability to learn new skills. The person with Korsakoff's syndrome deals with gaps in memory by confabulating (unintentionally making up incorrect information). Before someone gets Korsakoff's syndrome, he/she may first experience delirium tremens, which is a sudden onset of specific psychotic symptoms. Psychotic symptoms are those in which the person has an impaired ability to understand reality and communicate effectively with others to the degree that he/she cannot cope with the demands of everyday life.

Korsakoff's syndrome is more likely due to severe nutritional deficiencies (particularly in B complex vitamins such as thiamin and B12) caused by excessive alcohol intake, than to the direct harmful effects of alcohol consumption. The problem is that some people who consume excessive amounts of alcohol replace important parts of their diets with the alcohol, preventing them form getting the proper amounts of vitamins and minerals. Korsakoff's syndrome often coexists with Wernicke's syndrome. In Wernicke's syndrome, there is a deficiency in the vitamin, thiamin, due to poor nutrition. The thiamin deficiency in Wernicke's syndrome leads to brain damage. Specifically, the brain becomes inflamed, bleeds, and deteriorates over time. It is known that the nutritional deficiencies in Korsakoff's syndrome cause degeneration of the thalamus, which is an area of the brain that sends out messages regarding sensation. Korsakoff's syndrome was named after Sergei S. Korsakoff, a Russian psychiatrist born in 1854. Korsakoff's syndrome is also known as Korsakoff's psychosis, dysmnesic psychosis, dysmnesic syndrome, and polyneuritic psychosis.

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