Hemisphere memory differences in Sodium Amytal testing of epileptic patients

Material-specific memory performance was studied by a Sodium Amytal testing procedure in order to diagnose hemispheric memory functions in 27 patients with unilateral temporal or frontal epileptic lesions who were under consideration for surgical therapy. Memory was tested for concrete and abstract words, pictures of common objects, figures, and faces, presented pre- and post-inactivation of the hemisphere contralateral or ipsilateral to the epileptic focus. The results showed that tests involving words and pictures of common objects were conclusive about hemispheric memory functions, in showing cross-over interactions between side of lesion and side of injection. Figures and faces were hemisphere discriminative to a much lesser degree (only a minor preference for the right hemisphere was found) and are presumably more dependent on the functional integrity of both hemispheres. The present findings demonstrate that hemispheric memory functions can be studied in more detail with the Amytal technique than has been shown hitherto in the literature.