Neuropsychologia
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Comparative Study
Acute effect of anterior temporal lobectomy on musical processing.
Patients with intractable epilepsy treated by anterior temporal lobectomy (Right, RT, n = 12; Left, LT, n = 9) and healthy controls (n = 12) with no musical training were prospectively evaluated with a standardized battery, including the Musical Aptitude Profile and the Seashore Tonal Memory Test. Before surgery, patients performed below controls (P less than 0.001), but there were no differences between RT and LT patients. ⋯ LT, and controls studied at the same time interval, showed no decline. The results support the role of the right hemisphere in specific aspects of musical processing.