Effort needed to recognize past, present, future

[BigSnoopy]

What would be the cause of, for lack of a better term, being unable to remember when they are for a moment. If this person thinks about something, they sometimes feel like they're there; they don't just remember it as a past event. They know it's Oct. 2009 now, but iftheyI really focus on something, like school let's say, they can feel like they're actually back in school, and it's years ago. This has always been true, but is a little more since about 7-8 years ago;sometimes it takes a a few seconds to remember it's not, say, the 1980s.

This relative has always had a vivid imagination, but can easily tell fantasy from reality, though he's been quite suggestible his whole life. He's got very mild Dandy-Walker Syndrome; could this be caused by that? It was never bad enough to need a shunt, though. Or, could a small TIA jolt the...was it the orbitofrontal cortex I read controls that? He has never had a traumatic brain injury. He recalls dates and things well, and has no short or long term memory problem. (he'll say he "remembers" thigns from before he was born, but always says what he really recalls is reading about it; it's just the way he uses language.)

It's not bad enough to be a bother to everyday life, and it didn't get *that* much worse even after that possible TIA. It's just a curiosity as to what it could be.

[Lama Chahine, MD]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine your relative and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of his symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

I am not sure I understand exactly what the symptoms you are describing are. It sounds like there is occasional disorientation to time, such that the person seems to transiently have a misconception of the time. In people with learning disabilities or developmental delay (what is termed mental retardation, which can be mild and subtle, as in someone with Dandy-Walker that has not been severe enough to require a shunt), there may occur some difficulties with concepts of time and the temporal relation of things.

If someone senses that the moment they are in is the exact moment they have previously in, what is termed "deja vu", this can be benign (not pathologic, without consequence) but also can be a type of seizures. Brief disorientation to time is not a typical TIA symptom, though confusion can be a TIA symptom, though other symptoms can also occur with this.

Discussion of the symptoms with a primary doctor (internist/family physician) is recommended.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.