title: Extrahippocampal integrity in temporal lobe epilepsy and cognition: thalamus and executive functioning.
abstract: Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is characterized by the presence of extra-hippocampal brain abnormality and cognitive impairment in both memory and nonmemory domains. However, the link between structural integrity and cognition has not frequently been studied. Forty-six patients with TLE and 61 age-matched controls were studied to determine the predictive relationship between baseline thalamic volume and performance on measures of executive functioning evaluated 4 years later. As expected, the TLE group had lower baseline thalamic volumes than controls and also performed more poorly on measures of executive functioning. Total thalamic volume significantly predicted subsequent performance on all three measures of executive functioning. These findings were maintained when both hippocampal volume and frontal lobe volume were taken into account. These findings add to a growing literature demonstrating a link between extra-hippocampal volume abnormalities and cognitive functioning in TLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA. Victoria.tuchscherer@my.rfums.org
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tuchscherer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seidenberg
authors.forename: Dalin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pulsipher
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lancaster
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guidotti
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hermann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult