Recovery of high speed memory scanning after transient global amnesia: a case report.
We described the case of a 59 year old female with transient global amnesia (TGA) who had been examined neuropsychologically using Sternberg's paradigm and a random number generation (RNG) task on the following day, 1 week and 4 weeks after a TGA episode. The slope value of the linear function, a measure of cognitive memory scanning speed, decreased with time and showed a marked decrease 1 week after TGA, suggesting that the stage of serial and exhaustive scanning recovered within 1 week. The zero-intercept value, on the other hand, increased during 1 week but decreased 4 weeks later and was not related directly to recovery from TGA. The performance in RNG task improved 1 week later, but deteriorated 4 weeks after the episode. Such a change in RNG was in accordance with that of the zero-intercept value, predicting a relationship. It is concluded that the subclinical memory deficit, detected with these tasks, persisted longer than clinical recovery from TGA.
Okura
M
M
Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Tokushima School of Medicine, Japan.
Tomotake
M
M
Mori
K
K
Ikuta
T
T
D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D000648:Amnesia, Retrograde / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time