Transient epileptic amnesia: Update on a slowly emerging epileptic syndrome.
Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently individualized, late-onset, pharmaco-sensitive form of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with recurrent episodes of acute memory loss, but also interictal memory disturbances characterized by autobiographical and topographical memory impairment and a long-term consolidation deficit. In this article, we review the main clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of TEA, discuss its putative neuroanatomical substrate and mechanisms, common features and how it differs from related concepts, with the overall aim to defend the idea that TEA deserves to be recognized as a distinct epilepsy syndrome. While the pathophysiological basis remains largely unknown, emotional and/or dysimmune factors may have a potential influence. Most importantly, the concept of TEA is highly relevant to tertiary epilepsy and memory clinics, but also to routine neurology practice, leading to an adequate diagnosis and management of epilepsy-related, acute and long-standing memory deficits.
Service de Neurologie et Neuropsychologie, Pôle de Neurosciences Cliniques, CHU Timone, AP-HM, 264, rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille, France; Inserm, U1106, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Faculté de Médecine secteur Timone, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France; Aix Marseille Université, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France. Electronic address: olivier.felician@ap-hm.fr.
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Felician
Service de Neurologie et Neuropsychologie, Pôle de Neurosciences Cliniques, CHU Timone, AP-HM, 264, rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille, France; Inserm, U1106, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Faculté de Médecine secteur Timone, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France.
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Tramoni
Inserm, U1106, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Faculté de Médecine secteur Timone, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France; Aix Marseille Université, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France; Service de Neurophysiologie Clinique, Pôle de Neurosciences Cliniques, CHU Timone, AP-HM, 264, rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille, France; Hôpital Henri-Gastaut, Centre Saint-Paul, 300, boulevard Sainte-Marguerite, 13009 Marseille, France.
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Bartolomei
D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D013577:Syndrome
Amnesia; Amnésie; Autobiographical memory; Episodic memory; Hippocampe; Hippocampus; Mémoire autobiographique; Mémoire épisodique; Temporal lobe epilepsy; Épilepsie temporale