Evaluating autobiographical memory in temporal lobe epilepsy patients.
Item
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Title
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Evaluating autobiographical memory in temporal lobe epilepsy patients.
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Identifier
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AAI3103178
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identifier
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3103178
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Creator
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Tamny-Young, Tara Rebecca.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Jeffrey J. Rosen
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Cognitive
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Abstract
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Individuals with medically intractable Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) often undergo surgical treatment for seizure control, which typically involves removal of the anterior portion of the temporal lobe including medial structures. Although surgery is frequently successful in eliminating or reducing seizure activity, patients are at risk for memory decline because medial temporal structures play a critical role in learning and memory. Furthermore, many TLE patients who undergo temporal lobe resection report memory problems and complain primarily of poor memory for personal events, e.g., forgetting vacations or conversations. However, conventional neuropsychological measures do not appear to assess these patients' concerns and experiences, and instead focus on memory for impersonal material. Therefore, this investigation added autobiographical memory measures to pre- and post-operative neuropsychological evaluations and to Wada testing to determine whether these measures better evaluate patients' complaints.;This study additionally examined the underlying neurological substrates of autobiographical memory. Autobiographical memory function was tested and compared under conditions of confirmed neuroanatomical damage, temporary anesthesia of brain regions, and resective brain surgery. An examination of the underlying neuroanatomy of confabulatory responding (i.e., false memory production) was also attempted.;A small group of TLE patients was tested pre- and post-operatively and found to perform worse one year after surgery than before surgery on the incident items of the Autobiographical Memory Inventory. Although this was the predicted finding, further examination of the data revealed that declines were found in patients who underwent right AMTL, whereas patients who underwent left AMTL improved slightly on autobiographical measures.;In addition, Wada test findings for 16 TLE patients with unilateral medial temporal damage revealed poorer recall of recent autobiographical events than of remote events during temporary bilateral medial temporal dysfunction. These findings support the consolidation theory of memory.;In contrast, the current investigation failed to reveal any significant differences between left and right hemisphere dysfunction and autobiographical memory retrieval during Wada testing. It is likely that the perfusion of amobarbital to a large portion of each hemisphere confounded the comparison. In addition, an examination of the underlying neuroanatomy of confabulatory responding was attempted, but confabulations were insufficiently frequent for empirical analysis.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
