Memory for public events in patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy

Memory for public events (PEs) was assessed as a marker of remote declarative memory in 36 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and compared with that of 19 patients with extra-TLE (ETLE), 17 patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE), and 23 healthy volunteers. Verbal IQ, inventory-based evidence of depression, handedness, onset of illness, disease duration, and medication were obtained. Memory for PEs was reduced in all patient groups (TLE, P < 0.0001; ETLE, P = 0.009; IGE, P = 0.008). The TLE group showed reduced memory for PEs compared with the other patients with epilepsy (P = 0.001). A time gradient was observed, with worse memory for PEs of the 1990s and for PEs that occurred after onset of illness. Our data support the key role of the temporal lobe in remote declarative memory. With patients with TLE remembering fewer PEs from the period after onset of epilepsy, the deficits can be partly attributed to unsuccessful consolidation rather than retrieval difficulties alone.