1. There is memory impairment, manifest in both

   1. A defect of recent memory (impaired learning of new material) to a degree sufficient to interfere with daily living
   2. A reduced ability to recall past experiences
2. There is no
   1. Defect in immediate recall (as tested, for example, by the digit span)
   2. Clouding of consciousness and disturbance of attention. Delirium, not induced by alcohol and other psychoactive substances
   3. Global intellectual decline (dementia)
3. There is objective evidence (from physical and neurological examination, laboratory tests) and/or history of an insult to, or a disease of, the brain (especially involving bilaterally the diencephalic and medial temporal structures but other than alcohol encephalopathy) that can reasonably be presumed to be responsible for the clinical manifestations

Comments
Associated features, including confabulations, emotional changes (apathy, lack of initiative), and lack of insight are useful additional pointers to the diagnosis but are not invariably present.