The British Journal of Psychiatry (2008) 193: 145-151. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.045716
© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Psychopathological factors, memory disorders and transient global amnesia

Audrey Noël, PhD, Peggy Quinette, PhD and Bérengère Guillery-Girard, PhD

Inserm – EPHE – Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen

Jacques Dayan, MD, PhD

Département de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent, CHR Clémenceau, and Inserm – EPHE – Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen

Pascale Piolino, PhD

Université Paris Descartes – CNRS, Laboratoire Psychologie et Neurosciences Cognitives, Paris, and Inserm – EPHE – Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen

Sophie Marquis, MD

Département d’Accueil et de Traitement des Urgences, Caen University Hospital Côte de Nacre, Caen

Vincent de la Sayette, MD and Fausto Viader, MD

Département de Neurologie, Caen University Hospital Côte de Nacre, and Inserm – EPHE – Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen

Béatrice Desgranges, PhD and Francis Eustache, PhD

Inserm – EPHE – Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France.

Correspondence: Francis Eustache, Inserm – EPHE – Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Unité U923, Laboratoire de Neuropsychologie, Caen University Hospital Côte de Nacre, 14033 Caen Cedex, France. Email: neuropsycho{at}chu-caen.fr

Declaration of interest

None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background

Some studies have shown the presence of psychopathological disorders in transient global amnesia.

Aims

To determine whether transient global amnesia is associated with psychopathological disorders and to assess the influence of these psychopathological disorders on memory impairments.

Method

Levels of anxiety and depression before and during transient global amnesia were rated. Memory performances were assessed by means of original episodic memory tasks and working memory tasks. These data were collected in 17 individuals observed during the very acute phase, 18 individuals examined in the peri-acute phase and 26 controls.

Results

During the acute phase, participants with transient global amnesia displayed a higher level of anxiety and a more depressed mood than controls. An alteration of emotional state, as measured by the Adjective Mood Scale, was correlated with deficits in anterograde memory.

Conclusions

Transient global amnesia comprises sudden changes in people’s emotional state, which has a major impact on and interacts with episodic memory impairment.


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