EFFICACY OF THE CONTINUOUS VISUAL MEMORY TEST IN LATERALIZING TEMPORAL-LOBE DYSFUNCTION IN CHRONIC COMPLEX-PARTIAL EPILEPSY

The Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT) was hypothesized to measure n ondominant temporal lobe dysfunction in patients with refractory compl ex-partial epilepsy. Thirty-seven temporal lobectomy candidates, of wh om 20 had a right temporal seizure focus (RT) and 17 had a left tempor al seizure focus (LT), were selected for study. Contrary to the hypoth esis, initial results indicated that the LT group performed below the RT group for both the CVMT Total score and the Delayed Recognition sco re; however, group differences disappeared after accounting for Full S cale IQ scores. Both CVMT scores correlated positively and significant ly with Full Scale IQ, Block Design, and the Meier Visual Discriminati on Test, suggesting that overall cognitive functioning and visual-perc eptual processing are positively related to CVMT performance. These re sults are consistent with other recent findings which suggest that ext ant nonverbal memory tests may be inadequate in lateralizing nondomina nt hemisphere lesions in complex-partial epilepsy.