The causes and consequences of transient epileptic amnesia

Issue title: Aphasia and the Temporal Lobes

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Butler, Christopher R. | Zeman, Adam

Affiliations: Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK | Department of Neurology, Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, UK

Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Christopher Butler, Department of Clinical Neurology, Level 6, West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. Tel.: +44 01865 234632; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently recognised syndrome of epilepsy in which the principle manifestation of seizures is recurrent episodes of isolated memory loss. In this article, we describe the clinical and cognitive profile of this emerging syndrome, and present new data that provide at most weak support for its proposed relationship to cerebrovascular disease. TEA is often associated with two unusual forms of interictal memory impairment: accelerated long-term forgetting and remote memory impairment. We discuss the clinical and theoretical implications of these relatively novel cognitive deficits.

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-2011-0340

Journal: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 299-305, 2011