Memory complaints before and after temporal lobectomy: do they predict memory performance or lesion laterality?
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Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: August 30, 2011
1Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Abstract:
The relationships among self-report of memory, actual memory performance on objective tasks, and lesion laterality were examined in this longitudinal study. Right-handed adults (n = 47) with medically intractable seizures were assessed both preoperatively and 1 year after a left or right temporal lobectomy. Memory complaints remained stable or diminished postoperatively, whereas performance on material-specific memory tasks declined. Regression analyses showed that dosage of medications, seizure frequency and self-reported depression were predictive of postoperative memory complaints, although size of resection and age were not. Together, these data suggest that many patients have a positive though mistaken impression that their memory functions improved after temporal lobectomy, an impression influenced by their positive surgical outcomes. Memory complaints did not predict laterality of the lesion. Sex-laterality interactions were evident for both subjective and objective memory measures.
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