Hi @rloc, Good Morning
Temporal Lobe seizures can cause mild cognitive impairment, unfortunately. I do have temporal lobe epilepsy and am going through this. I did a neuro evaluation with a neuropsychologist that showed a decrease not only in my cognitive functions but also in my executive ones. Has your wife gone through this exam? Perhaps it would be interesting to do it. The pet scan I did almost at the same time came out normal.
As to the family history of your wife for dementia. Was the pet scan your wife did specifically to identify beta-amyloids? My mother has Alzeimer's, which is mostly caused by the increase of beta-amyloids. As far as I know, this specific pet scan is the only one that identifies that, being able to identify this disease in its first stage when symptoms are not yet very evident.
The cognitive impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy is much lighter and not comparable to Alzheimer's. What I have observed in my daily life is that my recent memory is not as strong as it once was, having to write down many things so as not to forget them. But, I still can have a normal life, after learning how to live with it. As to my mother who has Alzheimer's, the pieces of evidence are stronger (she is now in stage 3 of Alzheimer's). She for example asks me the same question during a conversation or can not remember some people she has not seen for a while, among other examples.
My best wishes to you and your mother.
Chris/Santosha