Integration of Perceptual and Mnemonic Dysfunction: Sensory Auras Are Associated with Left Hemispheric Memory...

Memory function during the intracarotid amobarbital test was studied to test the hypothesis that left hemisphere memory impairment is associated with sensory auras. In a series of 37 patients undergoing preoperative evaluation for epilepsy surgery, the quantitative memory scores during amobarbital inactivation of right and left hemisphere were analyzed for correlation with habitual epileptic auras classified as either (a) experiential, forced emotion, or whole-body dysphoria or (b) sensory hallucinations and/or illusions or localized dysesthesias. The left hemispheric memory score impairment was significantly worse in association with auras classified as sensory hallucinations and/or illusions or localized dysesthesias compared with auras classified as experiential, forced emotion, or whole-body dysphoria (P < 0.05). This finding may assist in predicting left-sided hemispheric memory dysfunction in patients with seizures beginning as auras involving sensory material. The results suggest an integration of perceptual and mnemonic dysfunction in which sensory auras are associated with left hemispheric memory impairment.