A seizure is basically a hiccup in the electrical impulses in the brain. Depending on where in the brain this happens, it could effect areas such as sight, taste, touch, hearing and speech.
Memory Loss and Processing Words
Any type of epileptic seizure could potentially affect your memory, either during or after a seizure. If you have lots of seizures, memory problems might happen more often.
Some people have generalised seizures that affect all of the brain. Others have focal seizures (sometimes called partial seizures) that affect only part of the brain. Some people have both generalised and focal seizures.
If you have focal seizures, the way your seizures can affect your memory will depend on where in the brain your seizures happen.
The brain has two halves called hemispheres. Each half has four parts called lobes: the occipital, parietal, temporal and frontal lobes.
Abnormalities in the temporal or frontal lobes of the brain are the most common reason for memory problems in people with epilepsy. It is referred to as "postictal (after-seizure) confusion" and the length of time to get over it varies from one person to another.
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The left temporal lobe is important for verbal memories such as learning names and remembering facts for exams. If you have seizures that start in this area you may have problems remembering words, and get stuck mid-sentence.
The right temporal lobe is important for visual memories like remembering a person’s face or finding your way around a place.
The frontal lobe is important for prospective memory. Seizures in this area can cause problems remembering to do things in the future.
What Else Effects Memory
Some seizure, or anti-epileptic, medications can cause more problems with memory or speech. Drowsiness and concentration problems can effect how to learn and store information. This actually could become permanent, even with medication changes.
OTHER THINGS INCLUDE:
- anxiety
- being distracted
- concentration
- illness
- lack of sleep
- mood (happy could help your mind focus better)
- stress
Source Link: https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/how-epilepsy-can-affect-memory#.Xjx9sNF8DIU
SURGERY:
Sometimes, you just can't avoid things that effect memory and recall, like surgery for seizures. Before Weslee's first two brain surgeries for seizures (2013), the doctors performed a WADA test on him. That plots the brain. They needed to determine, in addition to other things, where he had speech located.
Most people have speech on just one side of the brain; he had it on both. After the surgery, he did have to relearn how to talk, but he picked it up quickly, probably because he was still young. He was able to make new neuro-pathways, reducing the slurred speech effect.
His word-recall took a lot longer to get better. I have to remember to not supply the word he mentally searched for, but give him time to recall it, or find a substitute.
However, after his botched brain surgery in 2019 with all of the brain bleeding, he didn't bounce back as quickly. To begin with, he was now missing a great part of his front temporal lobe. The bleeding and swelling now also caused his brain to be basically swiss cheese. Even after speech therapy, he still struggles with word recall and slurred speech, especially when he's tired.
For more information about the WADA test, see: https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/epilepsy/wada_test.html
Slurred Speech
Sometimes after a seizure, an epileptic might slur their words. It can often sound like the person is drunk, which can cause problems with law enforcement and other people with authority.
From Epilepsy,com:
Many forms of generalized epilepsy have nonspecific effects on a range of functions, including those involving language. But other forms of epilepsy produce definite patterns of language disturbance. Aphasia is an acquired disorder of language or symbolic processing. There are many specific types of aphasia, defined according to the type of function that is lost. A person with a diagnosis of aphasia is assumed to have achieved normal language functioning before the onset of illness.Source Link: https://www.epilepsy.com/article/2014/3/types-language-problems-epilepsy
NOTE:
Basically, slurred speech depends on the type(s) of seizures, where in the brain they occur, damage to the brain, recovery, medication, and if there is a lesion or tumor.
I haven't been able to find much information about how to avoid or remedy slurred speech due to seizures, except to get some rest, and talk with your doctor about possibly changing meds.
For those people who have slurred speech because of surgery, work with your speech therapist. That's what they are there for.
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Reminder: I am not a medical professional. Please contact your epilepsy doctor (epileptologist) for more information.
Please feel free to comment about your experience with this topic. Thank you.
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