The integrity of temporal lobe activity during and after recovery from transient global amnesia (TGA) was assessed in a case study using functional MRI. TGA was associated with scene-encoding deficits in a temporolimbic circuit that recovered over time. Frontoparietal areas recruited during the amnesic state may signify a compensatory reliance on visuospatial or working memory strategies. Reduction of extrastriate cortex responses over repeated testing sessions possibly indicates intact visual priming in TGA.