ANTICONVULSANT DRUGS AFFECT PARTICULAR STEPS OF VERBAL MEMORY PROCESSING - AN EVALUATION OF 13 PATIENTS WITH INTRACTABLE COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURES OF LEFT TEMPORAL-LOBE ORIGIN

Thirteen patients with intractable complex partial seizures of left temporal lobe origin were tested for verbal memory performance under the conditions of full and reduced anticonvulsant medication. As suggested by previous investigations memory performance improved significantly with the reduction of anticonvulsants. However, our observations refute assumptions that the effects of antiepileptic drugs act primarily by non-specific mechanisms affecting attention and or memory diffusely. Our data rather suggest that very specific and circumscribed steps of verbal memory processing, particularly retrieval abilities after interference, are affected by anticonvulsants. The possible implications of these findings in relation to morphological and electrophysiological aspects in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy are discussed.