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Query: UMLS:C0751295 (memory loss)
 3,619 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently recognised form of epilepsy of which the principle manifestation is recurrent, transient episodes of isolated memory loss. In addition to the amnesic episodes, many patients describe significant interictal memory difficulties. Performance on standard neuropsychological tests is often normal. However, two unusual forms of memory deficit have recently been demonstrated in TEA: (i) accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF): the excessively rapid loss of newly acquired memories over a period of days or weeks and (ii) remote autobiographical memory loss: a loss of memories for salient, personally experienced events of the past few decades. The neuroanatomical bases of TEA and its associated memory deficits are unknown. In this study, we first assessed the relationship between subjective and objective memory performance in 41 patients with TEA. We then analysed MRI data from these patients and 20 matched healthy controls, using manual volumetry and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to correlate regional brain volumes with clinical and neuropsychological data. Subjective memory estimates were unrelated to performance on standard neuropsychological tests but were partially predicted by mood, ALF and remote autobiographical memory. Manual volumetry identified subtle hippocampal volume loss in the patient group. Both manual volumetry and VBM revealed correlations between medial temporal lobe atrophy and standard anterograde memory scores, but no relation between atrophy and ALF or remote autobiographical memory. These results add weight to the hypothesis that TEA is a syndrome of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Furthermore, they suggest that although standard anterograde memory test performance is related to the degree of mesial temporal lobe damage, this is not true for ALF and autobiographical amnesia. It is possible that these unusual memory deficits have a more diffuse physiological basis rather than being a consequence of discrete structural damage.
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PMID:Transient epileptic amnesia: regional brain atrophy and its relationship to memory deficits. 1907 52

Transient epileptic amnesia is a rare but probably underrecognized form of temporal lobe epilepsy, which typically manifests as episodic isolated memory loss. Consequently, transient epileptic amnesia may be readily misdiagnosed as a nonepileptic memory dysfunction in older individuals. When appropriately recognized, it has been described as a treatment-responsive syndrome amenable to antiepileptic drugs. We describe a patient with drug-resistant transient epileptic amnesia treated with unilateral temporal lobectomy. Prolonged postictal slowing in the mesial temporal structures was evident on invasive electroencephalography 5 hours after the occurrence of a brief focal seizure. These findings support the theory of a Todd phenomenon as the underlying pathophysiological mechanism in transient epileptic amnesia.
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PMID:Complex transient epileptic amnesia. 2126 89

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently described, typically misdiagnosed at presentation, distinctive syndrome, characterized by recurrent, brief attacks of memory loss in middle-aged or elderly people, accompanied by significant interictal memory difficulties. We describe the clinical, neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and neuropsychological characteristics of three patients fulfilling the proposed criteria for TEA, initially referred to our memory clinic for evaluation and treatment of probable dementia. Neuropsychological performance on admission and 6 months after treatment demonstrated a broad range of performance on measures of executive function, lower than expected visuospatial perception, and poor autobiographical memory. TEA should be included in the differential diagnosis of dementia to avoid misdiagnosis and needless medication. It is a benign and treatable condition, yet the associated decline in autobiographical and remote memory despite antiepileptic therapy poses challenges for further research.
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PMID:Transient epileptic amnesia in a memory clinic setting: a report of three cases. 2127 36

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is characterized by deficits in autobiographical memory (AM). One of the functions of AM is to maintain the self, suggesting that the self may undergo changes as a result of memory loss in temporal lobe epilepsy. To examine this, we used a modification of a task used to assess the relationship between self and memory (the IAM task) in a single case, E.B. Despite complaints of AM loss, E.B. had no difficulty in producing a range of self-images (e.g., I am a husband) and collections of self-defining AMs in support of these statements. E.B. produced fewer episodic memories at times of self-formation, but this did not seem to impact on the maintenance of self. The results support recent work suggesting the self may be maintained in the absence of episodic memory. The application of tasks such as that used here will further elucidate AM impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy.
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PMID:Autobiographical memory and the self in a case of transient epileptic amnesia. 2148 96

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.
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PMID:The causes and consequences of transient epileptic amnesia. 2206 18

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently described epilepsy syndrome characterized by recurrent episodes of isolated memory loss. It is associated with two unusual forms of interictal memory impairment: accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) and autobiographical amnesia. We investigated the neural basis of TEA using manual volumetry and automated multi-atlas-based segmentation of whole-brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 40 patients with TEA and 20 healthy controls. Both methods confirmed the presence of subtle, bilateral hippocampal atrophy. Additional atrophy was revealed in perirhinal and orbitofrontal cortices. The volumes of these regions correlated with anterograde memory performance. No structural correlates were found for ALF or autobiographical amnesia. The results support the hypothesis that TEA is a focal medial temporal lobe epilepsy syndrome but reveal additional pathology in connected brain regions. The unusual interictal memory deficits of TEA remain unexplained by structural pathology and may reflect physiological disruption of memory networks by subclinical epileptiform activity.
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PMID:Magnetic resonance volumetry reveals focal brain atrophy in transient epileptic amnesia. 2383 33

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently individualized, late-onset, pharmaco-sensitive form of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with recurrent episodes of acute memory loss, but also interictal memory disturbances characterized by autobiographical and topographical memory impairment and a long-term consolidation deficit. In this article, we review the main clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of TEA, discuss its putative neuroanatomical substrate and mechanisms, common features and how it differs from related concepts, with the overall aim to defend the idea that TEA deserves to be recognized as a distinct epilepsy syndrome. While the pathophysiological basis remains largely unknown, emotional and/or dysimmune factors may have a potential influence. Most importantly, the concept of TEA is highly relevant to tertiary epilepsy and memory clinics, but also to routine neurology practice, leading to an adequate diagnosis and management of epilepsy-related, acute and long-standing memory deficits.
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PMID:Transient epileptic amnesia: Update on a slowly emerging epileptic syndrome. 2572 12