Sue - It's true that depressed people (and I think most MLCers suffer from depression) can have problems with their memory. Also, other medical conditions (like thyroid disease) can cause memory problems. I agree that it is also worrisome that his mom and grandma had Alzheimer's.
If you've noticed a lot of episodes like this, do you think you could get him into the doctor's for some medical tests and maybe some neuropsych testing as well?