Compromised future thinking: another cognitive cost of temporal lobe epilepsy

G Rayner; M Antoniou; G Jackson; C Tailby

Journal article

Compromised future thinking: another cognitive cost of temporal lobe epilepsy

G Rayner, M Antoniou, G Jackson, C Tailby

Brain Communications | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | Published : 2022

DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac062

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Abstract

The ability to mentally travel forward through time allows humans to envisage a diverse array of possible events taking place in the future, helping us to choose which pathway to take in life. In epilepsy, we assume that patients use this cognitive ability when deciding between various treatment options, but this assumption has not been robustly tested. The temporal lobes are key contributors to this 'future thinking' and its building blocks include cognitive functions commonly impaired in temporal lobe epilepsy such as memory and language, giving rise to a hypothesis that 'future thinking' is impaired in this patient cohort. Participants were 68 adults: 37 with neurosurgically-naïve, unilat..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Genevieve Rayner Author

Graeme Jackson Author

Chris Tailby Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (1081151) to C.T., a National Health and Medical Research Council programme grant (1091593) to G.J. and a Victorian Government Operational Infrastructure Support Grant.