Susceptibility to interference and intrusion errors in consequence of the dominant hemisphere’s hippocampal infarct: A case report

Abstract

We present a case of a man with an ischemic lesion of the left hippocampus. Detailed neuropsychological assessment revealed susceptibility to retroactive interference and a tendency to make intrusion errors in addition to mild deficits in the verbal memory processes. Although retroactive interference and intrusion errors are normally considered to be the manifestations of frontal lobe dysfunctions, the idea of susceptibility to interference has recently begun to emerge in the literature, as an explanation of medial temporal lobe amnesia. Our data support this new theory, suggesting that one role of the hippocampus is to decrease the interference during the learning processes.

Keywords:

• Left hippocampus
• Susceptibility to interference
• Intrusion error
• Memory functions
• Case report

The work was partly supported by grant No. TAMOP-4.2.1.B-09/1/KMR. Mónika Andrejkovics would like to express her gratitude to István Degrell, the former lead professor of the Psychiatric Department of University of Debrecen, Hungary for motivating and supporting her to become a neuropsychologist.