J Korean Med Sci.  1997 Dec;12(6):559-563. 10.3346/jkms.1997.12.6.559.

The effect of early versus late onset of temporal lobe epilepsy on hemispheric memory laterality: an intracarotid amobarbital procedure study

• Kim H
• Yi S

• KMID: 645119
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.1997.12.6.559

Abstract

Thirty-three temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients, 19 left TLE and 14 right TLE, underwent an intracarotid amobarbital procedure. For each patient, hemispheric memory laterality was determined by measuring the relative magnitude of recognition memory following left versus right hemisphere injection of sodium amobarbital. The patients were divided into early and late seizure onset groups, based on the median age (13 yrs) of seizure onset of the total sample. Early-onset left TLE was associated with a greater tendency toward right hemispheric representation of both verbal and visual memory compared with late-onset left TLE. Early-onset right TLE was associated with a greater tendency toward left hemispheric representation of visual, but not verbal, memory compared with late-onset right TLE. These findings indicate that interhemispheric plasticity for memory is greater in early than in late life, bidirectional, and at least partially material-specific.

MeSH Terms

Adolescence
Adult
Age Factors
Age of Onset
Amobarbital/diagnostic use
Amobarbital/administration & dosage
Brain/physiopathology*
Brain/drug effects
Carotid Artery, Internal
Child
Comparative Study
Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/physiopathology*
Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/epidemiology*
Female
GABA Modulators/diagnostic use
GABA Modulators/administration & dosage
Human
Korea/epidemiology
Laterality/physiology*
Laterality/drug effects
Male
Memory/physiology*
Memory/drug effects
Seizures/physiopathology
Time Factors