Severity of depressive symptoms, hippocampal sclerosis, auditory memory, and side of seizure focus in temporal lobe epilepsy

The relationship between severity of depressive symptoms and performance on three Wechsler Memory Scale-III auditory memory and learning subtests was examined in 84 inpatients diagnosed with medically intractable seizures of left (n=46, LTLE) or right (n=38, RTLE) temporal lobe origin. Depressive symptom severity was associated with auditory recall test performance in individuals with LTLE, but not RTLE. Multiple regression analyses indicated that severity of depressive symptoms, hippocampal sclerosis, and naming ability were significant predictors of auditory memory test performance in LTLE; however, hippocampal sclerosis was the only significant predictor of auditory memory in RTLE. Results demonstrate the importance of hippocampal sclerosis, greater self-report of depressive symptoms, and poor naming ability as independent predictors of poor auditory memory and learning abilities. Results suggest that a complex relationship exists among multiple risk factors that combine to influence performance on auditory memory tests as a function of side of seizure focus.