A recent study showcased in Sci Tech Daily caught my eye this month. It shed light on the countless exchanges I’ve had over the years, like this one last month:
“Laura. How’s it going? It’s been a while.” A guy I didn’t recognize approached me in Davis Square. He donned a baseball cap and sunglasses. This is unfair, I thought: His basic physical features are hidden while my tight curls are perpetually distinct. I had no idea who he was, but I played along.
“It’s great. We’re just enjoying the summer night. This is my daughter, Amelia.” I nodded her way, relieved for the distraction. I was pretty sure that the last time I spoke to this man, Amelia was a good deal younger than her current 17 years.
“Oh wow, Amelia. Look at you, all grown up.” I was probably right, but the exchange didn’t give me any clues. I still had no idea who he was, so I owned up, slightly embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, I can’t remember how we know each other.”
“Oh, it’s Ken, Jackie’s friend.” Ah, yes, Ken. Once he gave context, I remembered he was one of my friend’s longstanding buddies.
“Right, Ken. Great to see you. Enjoy the lovely evening. Bye.” I steered us toward the drugstore. “That was embarrassing,” I whispered to Amelia, when we were out of earshot. She looked amused, but I was frustrated. My seizures had been under control for over a decade, but this exchange was proof of their lingering impacts. At least the study referenced in Sci Tech Daily shed some light on why.
Co-conducted by Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the study examined the rhythmic patterns and synchronization of sleeping epilepsy patients’ electrical brain activity in three different brain regions. Researchers discovered a correlation between good memory and strong coordinated activity among the three regions—the orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus and hippocampus. They also found that disruptions to this activity, such as seizure activity, can impair memory.
The study confirms something we already know, which is that people with epilepsy are more likely to have cumulative damage to the brain that causes memory loss and difficulties remembering past events or facts. I’ve been seizure-free for over a decade thanks to the brain surgeries I had in 2014. Yet I still notice significant memory gaps, especially when I reflect on my past.
My 2014 post-surgery neuropsychological evaluation found that my ability to recall numbers and words was far superior to my ability to recall a picture they showed me, so I could draw it. Thanks to those anemic visual recollection skills, I take careful note of my parking lot spots, so I can find the car after shopping. In some ways my college years are a blur: I lived on campus, had roommates, completed my degree in four years with a B+ GPA. But damned if I remember all my roommates’ names, or the details of my college courses.
I watch movies and except for a couple of my very favorite ones, within a few months I can’t necessarily recall actors’ names or plot specifics. My teenaged children teased me when I couldn’t come up with an accurate answer for my body count. I wasn’t especially promiscuous. But in my early thirties, my ticking biological clock pressured me into a quest for a long-term partner who also wanted to start a family. This led to several dates and short term failed relationships. Like the college courses and roommates’ names, these decades-old details have long escaped me. (For the record, my failed long-term relationships fall in the same category as favorite movies—I remember them reasonably well.)
The correlation between seizures and memory loss is common knowledge in the neurology and epilepsy communities. In addition to seizures’ impacts on memory, some anti-epileptic drugs also cause memory loss. The recent Kennedy Krieger Institute study is exciting because the results offer the first clear evidence connecting memory formation with nocturnal communication between the three memory-related brain regions. The results show that epileptic spikes can interrupt this coordinated activity, which negatively impacts memory formation.
When I had seizures, a minority of them were nocturnal. But epileptic brain activity can occur even when a person isn’t having seizures. Given that retrieving memories still plagues me, I’m quite sure that pre-surgery, some epileptic spikes were disrupting my memory-formation abilities during my dreams. I’ve found many workarounds to deal with memory challenges, including mnemonic devices, careful written notes, tracking multiple physical markers, and straightforwardly fessing up to my weakness. As brain surgeries ultimately stopped the epileptic brain activity (a journey I described in my book, Seizing Control), I’m confident that my current memory formation abilities are significantly better.
I’m also optimistic that the study will improve treatment plans and memory loss issues for people with epilepsy. “We haven’t understood why patients with epilepsy have problems with memory. This helps to close that gap,” said Dr. Catherine Chu, the study’s co-author. The study results will hopefully improve life quality for people with epilepsy, so they don’t need as many workarounds.
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