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Published on: June 4, 2020
Memory functioning after hippocampal removal: Does side matter?
Virginie Lambrecq1,2,3,4, Irene Alonso2,5, Dominique Hasboun1,6
1Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
None:
To address the memory functioning after medial temporal lobe (MTL) surgery for refractory epilepsy and relationships with the side of the hippocampal removal, 22 patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy who had undergone MTL resection (10 right/12 left) at the Salpêtrière Hospital were compared with 21 matched healthy controls. We designed a specific neuropsychological binding memory test that specifically addressed hippocampal cortex functioning, and left-right material-specific lateralization. Our results showed that both left and right mesial temporal lobe removal cause a severe memory impairment, for both verbal and visual material. The removal of left medial temporal lobe causes worse memory impairment than the right removal regardless of the stimuli type (verbal or visual) questioning the theory of the hippocampal material-specific lateralization. The present study provided new evidence for the role of both hippocampus and surrounding cortices in memory-binding whatever the material type and also suggested that a left MTL removal is more deleterious for both verbal and visual episodic memory in comparison with right MTL removal.
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The severity and duration of memory loss vary depending on the type and underlying cause. Amnesia is classified into two main types: retrograde and anterograde.
Retrograde amnesia is marked by the loss of memories formed before the onset of the condition. Patients may recall distant past events but often forget those occurring shortly before the incident.
Anterograde...
Functional Brain Systems: Limbic System

