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The use of figural reproduction tests as measures of nonverbal memory in epilepsy surgery candidates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1997

WILLIAM B. BARR
Affiliation:
Departments of Neurology & Psychiatry, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY 11040
GORDON J. CHELUNE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195
BRUCE P. HERMANN
Affiliation:
EpiCare Center, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, TN 38103
DAVID W. LORING
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912
KENNETH PERRINE
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, NY 10003
ESTHER STRAUSS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., V8W 3P5, CANADA
MAX R. TRENERRY
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Foundation, Rochester, MN 55905
MICHAEL WESTERVELD
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 20808 and Bozeman Epilepsy Consortium

Abstract

The construct of nonverbal memory, as assessed by figural reproduction tests, has recently been questioned by a number of investigators. The purpose of this study was to reexamine this construct and its relationship to right temporal lobe dysfunction. Figural reproduction test scores were examined in 757 epilepsy surgery candidates obtained from 8 epilepsy centers participating in the Bozeman Epilepsy Consortium. All participants exhibited unequivocal evidence of left (LTL) or right (RTL) temporal lobe epilepsy observed in ictal and interictal EEG recordings. All subjects also had IQ scores exceeding 70, right-hand preference, and left hemisphere language dominance confirmed by intracarotid sodium amytal testing. Comparisons of LTL and RTL groups showed no significant differences in scores on the Visual Reproduction subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) or Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised (WMS–R) or on the copy and delayed recall conditions of the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT). Significant differences were observed among centers on WMS and ROCFT scores, which are likely to be a result of variations in administration and/or scoring procedures. The lack of significant differences between LTL and RTL groups in this large sample raise questions about the nature of nonverbal memory and its relationship to right temporal lobe dysfunction. (JINS, 1997, 3, 435–443.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 The International Neuropsychological Society

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