title: Novel forms of forgetting in temporal lobe epilepsy.
abstract: Transient Epileptic Amnesia (TEA) is a recently defined subtype of temporal lobe epilepsy, principally affecting people in middle age with a male predominance. Its key manifestation is the occurrence of recurring episodes of transient amnesia, usually lasting less than an hour and often occurring on waking. One-third of patients have exclusively amnestic attacks, while in two-thirds, at least some attacks are accompanied by other manifestations of epilepsy, especially olfactory hallucinations. Several lines of evidence point to a seizure focus in the medial temporal lobes. Transient Epileptic Amnesia is accompanied by a striking loss of autobiographical memories in two-thirds of sufferers, accelerated loss of memories which had been acquired successfully in around one half, and topographical amnesia in around one-third. This paper reviews the findings of the TIME project (The Impairment of Memory in Epilepsy - http://sites.pcmd.ac.uk/time/tea.php) in relation to TEA, accelerated long-term forgetting, and remote memory impairment.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neurology Research Group, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. adam.zeman@pms.ac.uk
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zeman
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muhlert
authors.forename: Fraser
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Milton
mesh_terms: D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests