A medical observation apparatus includes: an imaging unit configured to capture a subject image and output an image signal； a memory unit configured to temporarily store and output the image signal； an abnormality detection unit configured to detect an abnormality in the memory unit； a thinning-out processing unit provided in parallel with the memory unit and configured to perform thinning-out processing on the image signal； a first selector configured to select and output one of the image signals output from the memory unit and from the thinning-out processing unit； an image processing unit configured to perform image processing on the image signal； and a first selection controller configured to control the first selector such that the first selector selects the image signal output from the memory unit when no abnormality is detected and selects the image signal output from the thinning-out processing unit when an abnormality is detected.
