Assessment of working memory in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy associated with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether working memory is impaired in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS), a controversial and largely unexplored matter.

Methods: Twenty subjects with left MTLE-HS, 19 with right MTLE-HS, and 21 control right-handed subjects underwent neuropsychological assessment of episodic and semantic memory, executive functions, and specific working memory components.

Results: Left and right epileptogenic foci resulted in impairment of verbal and nonverbal episodic memory (verbal memory deficit greater in left MTLE-HS than in right MTLE-HS).

Correlation between memory, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and interictal epileptiform discharges in temporal lobe epilepsy related to mesial temporal sclerosis.

Objective: The aim of the study described here was to examine the relationship between memory function, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) abnormalities, and interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) lateralization in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) related to unilateral mesial temporal sclerosis.

Methods: We assessed performance on tests of memory function and intelligence quotient (IQ) in 29 right-handed outpatients and 24 controls. IEDs were assessed on 30-minute-awake and 30-minute-sleep EEG samples.