Impaired gist memory in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis |
| |
Authors: | Ming‐Jang Chiu Ching‐Wei Lin Chih‐Chuan Chen Ta‐Fu Chen Ya‐Fang Chen Hon‐Man Liu Chih‐Pang Chu Horng‐Huei Liou Mau‐Sun Hua |
| |
Institution: | 1. Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;2. Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;3. Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;4. Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan |
| |
Abstract: | Purpose: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common focal epilepsy and frequently causes memory problems. It is often associated with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) and is useful in exploring memory functions. We aimed to examine the effect of restricted hippocampal lesions on gist memory function in patients with TLE. Methods: Forty‐five patients with TLE and HS (16 left, 15 right, and 14 bilateral lesions) and 22 control subjects were recruited. Patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or electroencephalography (EEG) evidence of extratemporal lesions were excluded. All participants performed a gist‐based recognition task following the Deese‐Roediger‐McDermott paradigm and were tested for verbal IQ and memory functions. We conducted hippocampal volumetry on MRI of all the participants. Results: Patients showed multidomain memory impairments. Gist memory was impaired in patients with bilateral HS and probably in patients with right HS. Hippocampal volumetry supported such findings that total volume of hippocampi and volume of right hippocampus correlated positively with gist memory function. Discussion: HS has a dose effect and a probable right dominance effect on gist memory; good item memory supports gist memory performance; and a disproportionate deficit was noted in tasks with high relational demand but not in tasks with simple association. We should develop memory skills for patients with TLE by enhancing performance of gist memory related to simple association task. |
| |
Keywords: | Volumetry Item memory Cognitive function Magnetic resonance imaging |
|
|