However, they said that some forms of amnesia may be a consequence of the “preretrieval memory abort” mechanism their findings revealed. Thus, hypnosis may at least partially model such forms ...

“Hypnosis, Memory, and Amnesia.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 352 (1362): 1727-1732. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1997.0155.

The way the movies represent amnesia is profoundly misleading, and gives the general public a false view of what to expect if they are diagnosed with the condition, says a paper in this week's BMJ.

Movies have distorted hypnosis to seem like an ideal tool to corrupt moral people for evil. Hypnosis can lead to false memories, amnesia, and falling asleep, but not as portrayed in "Hypnotic." ...