Accelerated long-term forgetting in temporal lobe epilepsy: evidence of improvement after left temporal pole lobectomy.
Accelerated long term forgetting (ALF) is a characteristic cognitive aspect in patients affected by temporal lobe epilepsy that is probably due to an impairment of memory consolidation and retrieval caused by epileptic activity in hippocampal and parahippocampal regions. We describe a case of a patient with TLE who showed improvement in ALF and in remote memory impairment after an anterior left temporal pole lobectomy including the uncus and amygdala. Our findings confirm that impairment of hippocampal functioning leads to pathological ALF, whereas restoration of hippocampal functioning brings ALF to a level comparable to that of controls.
Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. roberto.gallassi@unibo.it
Roberto
R
Gallassi
Luisa
L
Sambati
Roberto
R
Poda
Michelangelo
M
Stanzani Maserati
Federico
F
Oppi
Marco
M
Giulioni
Paolo
P
Tinuper
D038481:Anterior Temporal Lobectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests