title: Material specificity of memory deficits in children with temporal tumors and seizures: A case series.
abstract: In adults, left temporal lobe pathology is typically associated with verbal memory deficits, whereas right temporal lobe pathology is thought to produce visual memory deficits in right-handed individuals. However, in children and adolescents with temporal lobe pathology, conclusions regarding material specificity of memory deficits remain unclear. The goal of the present case series is to examine the profile of verbal and visual memory impairment in children with temporal lobe tumors. Three patients with identified right temporal tumors and three patients with left temporal tumors are included. The Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning-Second Edition (WRAML-2) was administered as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. As anticipated, participants with right temporal lesions showed impaired visual memory relative to intact verbal memory. Interestingly, although the discrepancies between verbal and visual indices were less extreme, those with left temporal lesions showed a similar memory profile. These seemingly counterintuitive findings among left temporal tumor patients likely reflect less hemispheric specialization in children in comparison to adults and the fact that early developmental lesions in the left hemisphere may lead to functional reorganization of language-based skills.
authors.affiliation: a Private Practice , New York , New York.
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Whitman
authors.affiliation: b Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University , New York , New York.
authors.forename: Elyssa A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Scharaga
authors.affiliation: c Department of Neurology , New York University School of Medicine , New York , New York.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blackmon
authors.affiliation: c Department of Neurology , New York University School of Medicine , New York , New York.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wiener
authors.affiliation: d Mount Sinai Center for Cognitive Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York , New York.
authors.forename: Heidi Allison
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Bender
authors.affiliation: e Department of Neurosurgery , Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , Texas.
authors.forename: Howard L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.affiliation: f NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University School of Medicine , New York , New York.
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: MacAllister
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000523:psychology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Epilepsy; memory; seizures; temporal lobe