Brain Fatigue and Poliovirus Damage to the Temporal Lobe
Original Post: Do you have any information on the temporal lobe that I can find and read more about?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: You may want to read the articles about word finding difficulty and poliovirus-damage to the temporal lobe in the Encyclopedia of Polio and PPS. It's all about the (usually) left temporal lobe.
Reduced concentration and word finding are THE symptoms related to a poliovirus-damaged brain stem and temporal lobe. Too little dopamine is the problem. (In all of the research that we have done we have never found a relationship between having had polio and learning disorders.)
From “Word Finding Difficulty as a Post-Polio Sequelae” by Drs. Richard L. Bruno, PhD and Jerald R. Zimmerman, MD -
“The reports of an association between word finding difficulty, subjective cognitive difficulties and fatigue supports the hypothesis that a common pathophysiology underlies the symptoms of post-polio "brain fatigue" This study was undertaken to objectively document polio survivors' word finding difficulty and to identify its relationship to fatigue, neuropsychologic processes requiring cortical activation and a peripheral marker for brain dopamine secretion.”
Another important article on this topic is Mental Status Exam – Caution for Polio Survivors. This is an article to share with your physician.
More information can be found under the topics of both “Brain” and “Fatigue” in the Index of the Encyclopedia of Polio and PPS.