title: Persistent global amnesia following right thalamic stroke: an 11-year longitudinal study.
abstract: The 11-year longitudinal study of a right-handed male patient, L. C., who suffered from a severe amnesic syndrome following a softening in the right thalamus, is reported. Memory impairment involving retrograde and long-term anterograde memory, both verbal and spatial, persisted without modification. Investigation revealed some residual implicit learning ability. Positron emission tomography studies in the resting state displayed a bilateral hypometabolism of the mesial frontal lobes. Evidence suggests that a lesion confined to the thalamus may not on its own account for severe amnesia; that involvement of other structures is necessary for severe amnesia to appear; and that a functional investigation should always be included in cases of small thalamic lesions before drawing conclusions about the structures responsible for a given deficit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Spinnler
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venneri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013786:Thalamic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed