WMS-III Logical Memory performance after a two-week delay in temporal lobe epilepsy and control groups

Conventional memory assessment may fail to identify memory dysfunction that is characterized by intact recall for a relatively brief period but rapid forgetting thereafter. This study assessed immediate memory and retention after 30-minute and two-week delays in a control group (n = 25) and a group of individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE, n = 25). For raw free recall, thematic unit, and recognition memory scores from the Wechsler Memory Scale-3rd ed. (WMS-III) Logical Memory (LM) subtest, there were no group x trial interactions and the TLE group performed significantly worse than the controls on all trials. At the individual level, none of the patients (0%) demonstrated isolated free recall impairment at the two-week delay when raw scores were analyzed, and one patient (4%) but also five controls (20%) did so when percent retention scores were examined. In summary, TLE patients did not demonstrate disproportionate forgetting over two weeks on a widely used story memory test.