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Lacunar amnesia has many different aspects to it. An episode of lacunar amnesia typically follows a lacunar infarct, or stroke. "In humans lacunar infarcts in the mesial and anterior regions of the thalamus are frequently associated with amnesic syndromes.” (Carlesimo) A lacunar infarct can also occur when one of the arteries that provide blood to the brain’s deep structures is blocked. The arteries of a lacunar stroke branch directly off of a large and heavily muscled main artery. High blood pressure can cause a lacunar infarct because it causes a pounding pulse in the arteries. The presence of an amnesic syndrome in patients with lacunar infarcts is strongly predicted by involvement of the mammillo-thalamic tract. It is also seen that these lacunar amnesia episodes can be used as a defensive coping strategy during times when a person is confronting a stressful situation, usually during times of recalling a situation that occurred during childhood. In these cases, lacunar amnesia is thought to be the cause of a psychopathologic cue. (Thomas-Anterion). In her article Dissociative Amnesia, Thomas-Anterion also states that “the main disturbance consists of one or more episodes where the subject has an inability to recall important personal memories, usually traumatic or stressful.” Other studies on autobiographical memory have shown that some emotional memories can be especially vivid and persistent, especially when related to posttraumatic stress disorder and flashback memories. These types of memories can bring on a strong sense of emotion that can result in an episode of lacunar amnesia. (Derouesne).