MEMORY ISSUES WITH EPILEPSY

Epilepsy is associated with memory issues. Seizures, especially ones that start in the temporal lobe, cause major memory issues. About 60% of people with focal epilepsy have temporal lobe epilepsy.  There are two types of temporal lobe epilepsy. One is mesial (near the middle) temporal lobe epilepsy. About 80% of all temporal lobe seizures start in the mesial temporal lobe with seizures starting near the hippocampus.  

Seizures can cause a major blow to the hippocampus. It is responsible for receiving new information and storing it. It only stores information for a short time. Then, if the information is important enough, it ships it to a different section of the brain for long-term storage. Once the information is needed again, the hippocampus helps retrieve it. The hippocampus is the ultimate librarian. The hippocampus is very sensitive to changes in brain activity. If seizures starting here go untreated, the hippocampus starts to harden and shrink. It is as if it has gone on strike. Information may be stored, but in a disorganized way. Luckily, there is one hippocampus on each side of the brain. So, if one is affected by seizures, the other can help pick up the slack. 

The amygdala, also in the temporal lobe, is also very important to memory. This structure is responsible for basic emotions, such as fear, anger, and sexual attraction. When a person, place, or thing causes an emotional reaction, the amygdala attaches the emotion to the memory.

Some medications used to treat epilepsy can have side effects that impact memory in some individuals. Most individuals with epilepsy are on more than one medication to try and control their seizures.  Epilepsy causes so many other difficulties in life because of memory issues.  

If people do not know that an individual with epilepsy has difficulties with memory, they look at the individual as being “stupid” or constantly “repetitive” in what is being said.

Memory issues need to be brought forward to the public so that money will be given to the field of research for epilepsy.  

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