Transient global amnesia: clinical and electroencephalographic findings in 10 cases.

We studied 10 patients with transient global amnesia (TGA). Routine electroencephalograms (EEGs) were normal in six; two showed mild temporal lobe abnormalities, one had bitemporal delta activity with rare sharp waves, and one showed bioccipital rhythmic theta activity. Nasopharyngeal (NP) recordings were obtained in seven patients; five showed independent mesial temporal spike discharges during drug-induced sleep. The discharges are probably due to transient ischemia in deep temporal structures.