Transient global amnesia: usual characteristics
| Transient global amnesia (migrainous) | Transient epileptic amnesia (temporal lobe epilepsy) | Transient global amnesia (vascular) | Psychogenic amnesia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle-aged women | Middle-aged men | Vasculopaths | Young |
| Anterograde amnesia | Anterograde amnesia | Anterograde amnesia | Variable amnesia |
| 2–24 h | <1 h | <24 h | Variable duration |
| Recurrence uncommon | Recurrence common | Recurrence and new events | Variable |
| Cannot learn new information | Cannot learn new information | Cannot learn new information | May learn new information |
| Retained identity | Retained identity | Retained identity | Personal identity lost |
| Any time of day | Frequently from sleep | Any time of day | After acute stress/trigger |
| Headache/nausea/dizziness | Variable headache | Variable headache | Variable headache |
| Normal investigations | EEG temporal abnormalities | EEG normal or non-specific | EEG normal or non-specific |
| Memory normal | Accelerated forgetting Remote memory impairment | Related to vascular disease | Variable |