Impairment of semantic memory after basal forebrain and fornix lesion.
Semantic memory impairment is classically associated with lesion of the anterior temporal lobe. We report the case of a patient with severe semantic knowledge impairment and anterograde amnesia after bilateral ischemic lesion of the fornix and of the basal forebrain following surgical clipping of an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) showed a temporal hypometabolism. Severe semantic impairment is a rare complication after rupture of an anterior communicating artery aneurysm and may result from disconnection of the temporal lobe.
a Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences , University Hospital and University of Geneva , CH-1211 Geneva 14 , Switzerland.
Marco
M
Solcà
Marie
M
Di Pietro
Armin
A
Schnider
Béatrice
B
Leemann
D066187:Basal Forebrain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012660:Semantics
diagonal band of Broca; diaschisis; medial septal nucleus; semantic knowledge