Remote memory in temporal lobe epilepsy

The present study aims at characterizing remote memory in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE); it also considers the impact of its most important variables (lateralization of the lesion, duration of epilepsy, age at onset, and seizure frequency) on remote memory.

We examined the performance of 38 patients with unilateral TLE (19 right TLE and 19 left TLE) and 35 healthy subjects on six remote memory tasks. Memory for personal events was assessed by using the Autobiographical Memory Interview and the Modified Crovitz Test. Memory for public events was evaluated by means of photographs of famous faces and famous scenes, questions about famous events, and the Dead/Alive Test.

Both right-TLE and left-TLE groups had impaired memory for autobiographic episodes and public events relative to normal subjects. In contrast, personal semantic memory was preserved. In addition, an effect of laterality was recorded, with right-TLE patients obtaining significantly better scores than left-TLE patients on every test. Duration of epilepsy, age at onset, and seizure frequency did not influence performance on remote memory measures.

The comprehensive neuropsychological study of 38 TLE patients showed that this neurologic condition affects remote memory systems differently. We discuss the different factors that could account for this pattern of performance on the bases of both functional brain organization and memory theories.