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Pseudoword and real word memory in unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy.

Recognition memory for pronounceable pseudowords (PWs), real words, and degraded photographs of unfamiliar faces, was examined in 45 patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), before and after Anterior Temporal Lobectomy, to test predictions from two accounts of hemispheric differences in memory functioning: (1) The 'material-specific' account predicts that left TLE (LTLE) patients would be impaired in memory for both familiar (real words) and unfamiliar (PWs) verbal stimuli, while memory for novel complex visual stimuli (unfamiliar faces) would be impaired in right TLE (RTLE) patients. (2) The 'familiarity' account predicts that memory for familiar stimuli (such as words) will be impaired in LTLE patients, while memory for both linguistic and nonlinguistic unfamiliar stimuli should be disrupted in RTLE patients. Results were consistent with the 'material-specific' hypothesis suggesting that both familiar and unfamiliar linguistic stimuli are processed for memory in the left medial temporal lobe (MTL), whereas unfamiliar nonverbal stimuli are processed for memory in the right MTL.

Adult↗

Personality characteristics of epileptic patients: a controlled study of generalized and temporal lobe cases.

Patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), right TLE, and generalized epilepsy (GE) were compared on a self-report inventory of personal behavior, ideas, and convictions. Distinct personality profiles emerged for the left TLEs and GEs, while the right TLEs responded like neurologically normal individuals. The quality of these profile differences may indicate a contribution of disordered left-hemisphere language mechanisms to the interictal personality syndrome of TLE.

Adult↗

Using study circles in the workplace as an educational method of facilitating readjustment after a traumatic life experience.

While employees who have undergone a traumatic life experience (TLE) are often referred for counseling and therapy, most organizations do not prepare managers and co-workers for the unique issues posed by TLE employees when they first return to the workplace. The Study Circle, a "democratic," interactive adult learning format, is introduced to make up for this lack by educating managers and co-workers about the various stages in the trauma recovery process and teaching them how to facilitate a TLE employee's re-entry to the workplace.

Adult↗

Equality of the psychological model underlying depressive symptoms in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy versus heterogeneous neurological disorders.

Controversy surrounds the question of whether there is a specific pattern of psychopathology or personality style observed in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) or whether the symptoms of psychological distress reflect a common disorder such as depression. Measurement equivalence was examined to test the hypothesis that the latent variable model underlying scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was equivalent across samples of patients with TLE (n = 187) and patients with heterogeneous neurological disorders (n = 150). A well-replicated model of depression or psychological distress comprising three related variables, negative attitude, performance difficulty, and somatic elements, displayed a pattern of strict metric invariance. This result suggests that the same set of latent variables is measured with the same metric relationship between item scores and latent variables in patients with TLE and in patients with heterogeneous neurological disorders.

Adult↗

WMS-III Logical Memory performance after a two-week delay in temporal lobe epilepsy and control groups.

Conventional memory assessment may fail to identify memory dysfunction that is characterized by intact recall for a relatively brief period but rapid forgetting thereafter. This study assessed immediate memory and retention after 30-minute and two-week delays in a control group (n = 25) and a group of individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE, n = 25). For raw free recall, thematic unit, and recognition memory scores from the Wechsler Memory Scale-3rd ed. (WMS-III) Logical Memory (LM) subtest, there were no group x trial interactions and the TLE group performed significantly worse than the controls on all trials. At the individual level, none of the patients (0%) demonstrated isolated free recall impairment at the two-week delay when raw scores were analyzed, and one patient (4%) but also five controls (20%) did so when percent retention scores were examined. In summary, TLE patients did not demonstrate disproportionate forgetting over two weeks on a widely used story memory test.

Adult↗

Hippocampal volumetric and morphometric studies in frontal and temporal lobe epilepsy.

The most common temporal lobe pathology is Ammons Horn sclerosis (AHS), and several different imaging techniques have been utilized to detect this with varying success. We describe the clinical application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a three-dimensional volume technique which allows total hippocampal volume to be measured and symmetry evaluated. Hippocampal surface area was calculated in sequential 1.5 mm thick contiguous images, using a GE IC workstation. Total volumes and surface areas were calculated. The cross-sectional surface area at 1.5 mm intervals was displayed graphically, permitting morphometric analysis of the hippocampus throughout its length. Focal atrophy within any part of the hippocampal formation (HF) and its extent could thus be assessed. Patients with well-lateralized temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) (n = 20) and well-defined frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) (n = 20) were studied, and volumes compared with normal values derived from 10 neurologically normal controls. Asymmetric hippocampal volume loss was demonstrated in all 20 patients with clinically typed TLE, but not in normal controls or patients with FLE. Volume loss distribution was anterior in 12 patients, posterior in one patient and widespread in seven patients. Secondarily generalized seizures were strongly associated with widespread loss. This method of surface area and volumetric analysis of the hippocampus in TLE can demonstrate asymmetry and focal involvement, and help distinguish between hippocampal and frontal pathologies.

Adult↗

Functional MRI predicts post-surgical memory following temporal lobectomy.

Temporal lobectomy is an effective therapy for medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), but may be complicated by amnestic syndromes. Therefore, pre-surgical evaluation to assess the risk/benefit ratio for surgery is required. Intracarotid amobarbital testing (IAT) is currently the most widely used method for assessing pre-surgical memory lateralization, but is relatively invasive. Over the past decade functional MRI (fMRI) has been shown to correlate with IAT for language lateralization, and also for memory lateralization in a small number of patients. This study was carried out to compare fMRI during memory encoding with IAT testing for memory lateralization, and to assess the predictive value of fMRI during memory encoding for post-surgical memory outcome. Thirty-five patients with refractory TLE undergoing pre-surgical evaluation for temporal lobectomy and 30 normal subjects performed a complex visual scene-encoding task during fMRI scanning at 1.5 T using a 10-min protocol. Encoding performance was evaluated with subsequent recognition testing. Twenty-three patients also completed the same task again outside the scanner, an average of 6.9 months following surgery. A region of interest (ROI) analysis was used to quantify activation within hippocampal and a larger mesial temporal lobe ROI consisting of hippocampus, parahippocampus and fusiform gyrus (HPF) as defined by a published template. Normal subjects showed almost symmetrical activation within these ROI. TLE patients showed greater asymmetry. Asymmetry ratios (ARs) from the HPF ROI correlated significantly with memory lateralization by intracarotid amobarbital testing. HPF ARs also correlated significantly with memory outcome, as determined by a change in scene recognition between pre-surgical and post-surgical trials. When absolute activation within the HPF ROI was considered, a significant inverse correlation between activation ipsilateral to temporal lobectomy and memory outcome was observed, with no significant correlation in the contralateral HPF ROI. Although further technical improvements and prospective clinical validation are required, these results suggest that mesial temporal memory activation detected by fMRI during complex visual scene encoding correlates with post-surgical memory outcome and supports the notion that this approach will ultimately contribute to patient management.

Adult↗

Surviving CA1 pyramidal cells receive intact perisomatic inhibitory input in the human epileptic hippocampus.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is known to be linked to an impaired balance of excitation and inhibition. Whether inhibition is decreased or preserved in the human epileptic hippocampus, beside the excess excitation, is still a debated question. In the present study, quantitative light and electron microscopy has been performed to analyse the distribution, morphology and input-output connections of parvalbumin (PV)-immunopositive interneurons, together with the entire perisomatic input of pyramidal cells, in the human control and epileptic CA1 region. Based on the degree of cell loss, the patients with therapy-resistant TLE formed four pathological groups. In the non-sclerotic CA1 region of TLE patients, where large numbers of pyramidal cells are preserved, the number of PV-immunopositive cell bodies decreased, whereas axon terminal staining, and the distribution of their postsynaptic targets was not altered. The synaptic coverage of CA1 pyramidal cell axon initial segments (AISs) remained unchanged in the epileptic tissue. The somatic inhibitory input is also preserved; it has been decreased only in the cases with patchy pyramidal cell loss in the CA1 region (control, 0.637; epileptic with mild cell loss, 0.642; epileptic with patchy cell loss, 0.424 microm synaptic length/100 microm soma perimeter). The strongly sclerotic epileptic CA1 region, where pyramidal cells can hardly be seen, contains a very small number of PV-immunopositive elements. Our results suggest that perisomatic inhibitory input is preserved in the epileptic CA1 region as long as pyramidal cells are present. Basket and axo-axonic cells survive in epilepsy if their original targets are present, although many of them lose their PV content or PV immunoreactivity. An efficient perisomatic inhibition is likely to take part in the generation of abnormal synchrony in the non-sclerotic epileptic CA1 region, and thus participate in the maintenance of epileptic seizures driven, for example, by hyperactive afferent input.

Adolescent↗

The role of corticothalamic coupling in human temporal lobe epilepsy.

The EEG activity of the thalamus and temporal lobe structures (hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and neocortex) was obtained using intracerebral recordings (stereoelectroencephalography, SEEG) performed in patients with TLE seizures undergoing pre-surgical evaluation. Synchrony was studied using a statistical measure of SEEG signal interdependencies (non-linear correlation). The results demonstrated an overall increase of synchrony between the thalamus and temporal lobe structures during seizures. Moreover, although there was great inter-individual variability, we found that values from seizure onset period were significantly higher than values from the background period (P = 0.001). Values at the end of seizure were significantly higher than values from the seizure onset (P < 0.0001). Several indices were also defined in order to correlate some clinical features to the degree of coupling between cortical structures and the thalamus. In patients with mesial TLE seizures, a correlation was found between the degree of thalamocortical synchrony and the presence of an early loss of consciousness but not with other clinical parameters. In addition, surgical prognosis seemed better in patients with low values of thalamocortical couplings at the seizure onset. This report demonstrates that the thalamus and remote cortical structures synchronize their activity during TLE seizures and suggest that the extension of the epileptogenic network to the thalamus is a potential important factor determining surgical prognosis.

Adolescent↗

Blood-brain barrier leakage may lead to progression of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Leakage of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is associated with various neurological disorders, including temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, it is not known whether alterations of the BBB occur during epileptogenesis and whether this can affect progression of epilepsy. We used both human and rat epileptic brain tissue and determined BBB permeability using various tracers and albumin immunocytochemistry. In addition, we studied the possible consequences of BBB opening in the rat for the subsequent progression of TLE. Albumin extravasation in human was prominent after status epilepticus (SE) in astrocytes and neurons, and also in hippocampus of TLE patients. Similarly, albumin and tracers were found in microglia, astrocytes and neurons of the rat. The BBB was permeable in rat limbic brain regions shortly after SE, but also in the latent and chronic epileptic phase. BBB permeability was positively correlated to seizure frequency in chronic epileptic rats. Artificial opening of the BBB by mannitol in the chronic epileptic phase induced a persistent increase in the number of seizures in the majority of rats. These findings indicate that BBB leakage occurs during epileptogenesis and the chronic epileptic phase and suggest that this can contribute to the progression of epilepsy.

Acute Disease↗

Plastic phase-locking and magnetic mismatch response to auditory deviants in temporal lobe epilepsy.

The magnetic equivalent (MMNm) of mismatch negativity may reflect auditory discrimination and sensory memory. To study whether temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) affects automatic central auditory-change processing, we recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) responses to standard and duration-deviant sounds in 12 TLE patients and 12 age-matched controls, and repeated MEG measurement in 8 patients 6-30 months following epilepsy surgery and in 6 controls 3-8 months after their first measurement. We compared the MMNm between patients and controls, and also evaluated intertrial phase coherences as indexed by phase-locking factors (PLF) using wavelet-based analyses. We observed longer MMNm latencies for patients than for controls. Dipole modeling and minimum-current estimates together showed bi-frontotemporal sources for MMNm. The phase locking across trials was dominant at the 4- to 14-Hz band, and the main difference in PLF between deviant- and standard-evoked responses occurred in the time frame of 150-250 ms after stimulus onset. Notably, in the 5 patients who became seizure free after removal of right temporal epileptic focus, the phase-locking phenomena resulting from deviant stimuli were enhanced, and even more distributed in the frontotemporal regions. We conclude that mesial TLE might affect auditory-change detection, and a successful surgery causes a possible plastic change in phase locking of deviant-evoked signals.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Subregional pathology of the amygdala complex and entorhinal region in surgical specimens from patients with pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy.

The hippocampus, amygdala complex, and entorhinal region represent anatomically linked limbic structures of the mesiotemporal lobe. Chronic seizures and mnestic deficits in patients with pharmacoresistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) appear to correlate with distinct patterns of histopathological alterations in these areas. The complex anatomical organization of the amygdala and entorhinal region, however, render a detailed neuropathological evaluation of surgical specimens difficult. In this study, we present a combined cytoarchitectonical, pigmentarchitectonical, myelinarchitectonical, and immunohistochemical reconstruction of the amygdala, entorhinal region, and hippocampus from surgical TLE specimens (n = 20) in order to analyze their regional and cellular patterns of pathology. Anterior mesiotemporal lobes dissected in different spatial planes were obtained from 4 autopsy control patients and used for the characterization of neuroanatomical landmarks. Lateral, basal, and granular subnuclei of the amygdala were consistently identified in the surgical specimens. Major histopathological alterations included neuronal cell loss as revealed by extracellular lipofuscin accumulation, glial satellitosis, as well as cellular and fibrillary gliosis. The regional distribution of neuropathological changes varied considerably between different subnuclei but the lateral nucleus was more often involved than basal and granular nuclei. These amygdala nuclei appeared to be more severely affected compared to the adjacent entorhinal region. In addition, patients presenting with secondary generalized tonic-clonic seizures showed significantly more damage in mesiotemporal structures. Pathological alterations in the amygdala and entorhinal region were found to be associated with Ammon's horn sclerosis in most but not all cases. Our findings reveal the amygdala as a major target for epilepsy-associated neuronal cell damage. Significant variations in the lesional pattern among patients with chronic TLE would also be compatible with different spreading pathways of epileptogenic activity within the mesial temporal lobe.

Adolescent↗

Increased expression of GABA(A) receptor beta-subunits in the hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

It has been postulated that dysfunction of the GABA-ergic transmission is causatively related to the development of epilepsy. Animal models of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) revealed considerable changes in the expression of GABA(A) receptor subunits in the hippocampus. Using immunocytochemistry, we investigated the expression of GABA(A) receptor subunits alpha1, alpha3, beta1-3, and gamma2 in hippocampal specimens obtained at surgery from TLE patients with and without hippocampal sclerosis and in autopsy controls. Consistent with the severe neurodegeneration in the CA1 sector, significant decreases in alpha1-, alpha3-, beta3-, and gamma2-subunit immunoreactivity (IR) were detected in sclerotic but not in nonsclerosic specimens. In contrast, pronounced increases in IR of all 3 beta-subunits were observed in most sectors of the hippocampal formation both in sclerotic and nonsclerotic specimens, being especially pronounced in the dentate molecular layer and in the subiculum where subunit alpha3- and gamma2-IR were also elevated. Using in situ hybridization for subunits beta2 and beta3, increased expression of the respective mRNAs was detected in dentate granule cells of patients with and without hippocampal sclerosis. Beta-subunits are important constituents of the GABA(A) receptor and contribute to the binding site of GABA. Our data indicate pronounced adaptive changes in the expression of these GABA(A) receptor subunits related to seizure activity and indicate altered assembly of GABA(A) receptors in TLE.

Adolescent↗

Hippocampal function and visual object processing in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Limbic event-related potentials related to verbal but not to visual recognition memory have been found to be attenuated within the epileptic hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). To identify hippocampal contributions to visual processing and memory we recorded intracranial ERPs directly from within the epileptic and the non-epileptic hippocampus in 12 patients with unilateral TLE during a visual object decision and naming task. While the non-epileptic hippocampus differentiated reliably between real and nonsense objects, this effect was completely eliminated within the epileptic mesial temporal lobe. This finding suggests that the hippocampus proper contributes to the semantic processing of visual objects and may help to explain visual memory deficits in TLE.

Adult↗

Daytime outpatient versus inpatient video-EEG monitoring for presurgical evaluation in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Video-EEG monitoring documentation of seizure localization is one of the most important aspects of a presurgical investigation in refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of inpatient versus daytime outpatient telemetry. The authors evaluated prospectively 73 patients with medically intractable TLE. Ninety-one telemetry sessions were performed: 35 as inpatients and 56 as outpatients. Outpatient monitoring was performed in the EEG laboratory. They used 18-channel digital EEG. Medications were not changed in the outpatient group. For analysis of the data, time was counted in periods (12 hours = 1 period). Statistical analyses were performed using Student's t-test and the chi2 test. There were no differences between the two groups (outpatient versus inpatient) with respect to age and mean seizure frequency before monitoring, mean time to record the first seizure (1.1 versus 1.4 periods), mean number of seizures per period (0.6 for both groups), lateralization by interictal spiking (46% versus 57%), and lateralization by ictal EEG (59% versus 77%). Daytime outpatient video-EEG monitoring for presurgical evaluation is efficient and comparable with inpatient monitoring. Therefore, the improved cost benefit of outpatient monitoring may increase the access to surgery for individuals with intractable TLE.

Adolescent↗

Dipole density of low-frequency and spike magnetic activity: a reliable procedure in presurgical evaluation of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Conventional visual analysis and dipole density analysis of magnetoencephalographic data for both spike and low-frequency magnetic activity were compared for presurgical evaluation in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) in a sample of 26 drug-resistant operated TLE patients. A series of logistic regression analyses were performed. Dipole density sensitivity was superior to visual localization analysis. Three separated logistic models were calculated for interictal spikes, low-frequency magnetic activity, and the combination of both measures. A combined interictal spike/low-frequency magnetic activity model predicted correctly the operated temporal lobe in all patients. Clear-cut criteria for the probability model are proposed that are valid for 92.3% of cases in the sample. The quantitative approach proposed by this study is an evidence-based model for presurgical evaluation of temporal lobe epilepsy, which improves previous magnetoencephalographic investigations and establishes working clinical criteria for patient evaluation in TLE.

Adolescent↗

The significance of bilateral CSI changes for the postoperative outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy.

PURPOSE: In a prospective study, we evaluated the significance of preoperative bilateral chemical shift spectroscopy imaging (CSI) changes for the prognosis of postoperative seizure outcome in the surgical treatment of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHOD: CSI using multivoxel spectroscopy was performed. Twenty-six consecutive TLE patients scheduled for epilepsy surgery were included. To evaluate the value of the CSI with respect to postoperative seizure outcome, discriminant analysis with ipsilateral and contralateral CSI was performed. RESULTS: The discriminant analysis showed that the contralateral metabolic changes alone are able to predict seizure outcome whereby 92.3% of cases were correctly classified. Upon comparison of the two groups of seizure-free and non-seizure-free patients with respect to contralateral metabolic changes, the difference proved to be highly significant (paired t test: t = -6.3, df = 24, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Bilateral metabolic CSI changes have a predictive value for the postoperative outcome in patients with TLE. In patients with severe bilateral metabolic changes, poor seizure outcome is a likely result.

Adolescent↗

Dissociation in temporal lobe epilepsy and pseudo-epileptic seizure patients.

Patients with epileptic seizures (ES) and especially those with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) share many symptoms with patients with pseudo-epileptic seizures (PES), and the differentiation between them is often difficult There is growing evidence that a subgroup of PES patients suffer from a dissociative disorder. It is recognized that dissociative symptoms pertain to both psychological and somatoform components of experience. Questionnaires assessing dissociation might provide positive criteria for the diagnosis of PES. In this study, the Dissociation Questionnaire (DIS-Q) and the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20) were administered to patients with ES (TLE, non-TLE) and PES. To control for the influence of general psychoneurotic complaints, the SCL-90 was administered. Apart from this, answers on a trauma questionnaire were related to the diagnosis. Results showed that PES patients scored significantly higher on the SDQ-20, also after correction with the SCL-90, and no difference was found on the DIS-Q. Also, PES patients significantly more often reported sexual traumatic experiences. A logistic regression revealed that results on the SDQ-20 have no independent value in addition to the contribution of gender, age, age at seizure onset, and the presence of sexual abuse in the prediction of the diagnosis. In conclusion, somatoform and not psychological dissociative symptoms are characteristic for PES patients in comparison to ES patients. Other measures are needed within the framework of the differential diagnosis between PES and ES.

Adolescent↗