Episodic dysmnesia: About a first case
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65
We report the case of an eleven-year-old boy (D.), who attends mainstream school and has learning disabilities related to attentional difficulties. A neuropsychological assessment demonstrated that DD’s intellectual skills and attentional/executive functioning were in the normal range, with the exception of sustained attention. We assessed different memory components in accordance with anamnestic features. The results showed that DD had verbal (Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, California Verbal Learning Test...) and visuospatial (Rey Figure) episodic memory impairments, particularly when it came to differed free recall. However, his working memory in both modalities and semantic memory were not affected. This cognitive pattern is similar to the developmental amnesia described by Vargha-Khadem et al. (1997) in patients with early ischemic brain lesions. Since DD does not have any neurological history, the term “developmental dysmnesia” would be more appropriate here, despite the right hippocampus atrophy. This case report is in accordance with Tulving’s SPI model but is not totally in opposition with Squire and Zola’s model. Our case highlights the importance of neuropsychological assessments for assessing memory in patients who have “attentional” difficulties with relatively limited attention abilities. This case report study allows for further discussions on the theoretical models on links between semantics and episodic memories.
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