Impact of executive dysfunctions on episodic memory abilities in patients with ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery

Executive and memory dysfunctions are among the most frequently reported deficits following a ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery (ACoA). In order to study the impact of the dysexecutive syndrome on episodic and semantic memory, the data obtained from 59 ACoA patients were examined retrospectively. All patients were assessed on a variety of episodic memory tests (Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test, Rey Complex Figure Test, Weschler Memory Scale), semantic memory (verbal fluency), and standardized tests of executive functions (Trail Making Test, Maze tests, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). There was a strong positive correlation between executive dysfunction and retrieval difficulties in episodic and semantic memory tasks. Comparisons of subgroups of patients with high and low frontal lobe functioning on delayed recall and recognition revealed a significant group X condition interaction in addition to significant group and condition main effects. ACoAs patients with low frontal lobe functioning were particularly deficient in free recall (immediate and delayed) while recognition was equally well preserved in the two subgroups. Neither subgroup presented with an abnormal forgetting over time suggesting a retrieval deficit rather than a true retention impairment.