Repeat testing enhances long-term verbal memory in children with epilepsy.

To (i) determine whether accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) can be found using standardized verbal memory test materials in children with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and (ii) to establish whether ALF is impacted by executive skills and repeat testing over long delays. One hundred and twenty-three children aged 8 to 16, (28 with GGE, 23 with TLE, and 72 typically developing; TD) completed a battery of standardized tests assessing executive functioning and memory for two stories. Stories were recalled immediately and after a 30-min delay. To examine whether repeat testing impacts long-term forgetting, one story was tested via free recall at 1-day and 2-weeks, and the other at 2-weeks only. Recognition was then tested for both stories at 2-weeks. Children with epilepsy recalled fewer story details, both immediately and after 30-min relative to TD children. Compared to TD children, the GGE group, but not the TLE group, showed ALF, having significantly poorer recall of the story tested only at the longest delay. Poor executive skills were significantly correlated with ALF for children with epilepsy. Standard story memory materials can detect ALF in children with epilepsy when administered over long delays. Our findings suggest that (i) ALF is related to poor executive skills in children with epilepsy, and (ii) repeated testing may ameliorate ALF in some children.

[1]  Linda M. Gonzalez,et al.  Accelerated long-term forgetting in children with temporal lobe epilepsy: A timescale investigation of material specificity and executive skills , 2022, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[2]  S. Lah,et al.  Accelerated long-term forgetting in children with genetic generalized epilepsy: The temporal trajectory and contribution of executive skills , 2020, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[3]  M. Koepp,et al.  Cognitive Function in Genetic Generalized Epilepsies: Insights From Neuropsychology and Neuroimaging , 2020, Frontiers in Neurology.

[4]  W. D’Souza,et al.  Default mode network dysfunction in idiopathic generalised epilepsy , 2019, Epilepsy Research.

[5]  M. McAndrews,et al.  Cognitive and functional correlates of accelerated long-term forgetting in temporal lobe epilepsy , 2019, Cortex.

[6]  L. Miller,et al.  Testing the effectiveness of cognitive interventions in alleviating accelerated long term forgetting (ALF) , 2017, Cortex.

[7]  S. Lah,et al.  Longitudinal study of accelerated long-term forgetting in children with genetic generalized epilepsy: Evidence of ongoing deficits , 2017, Cortex.

[8]  Markus Reuber,et al.  Psychological treatments for adults and children with epilepsy: Evidence‐based recommendations by the International League Against Epilepsy Psychology Task Force , 2018, Epilepsia.

[9]  E. Hessen,et al.  Tested and reported executive problems in children and youth epilepsy , 2018, Brain and behavior.

[10]  S. Lah,et al.  Memory Rehabilitation in Patients with Epilepsy: a Systematic Review , 2018, Neuropsychology Review.

[11]  W. Gaillard,et al.  The role of executive functioning in memory performance in pediatric focal epilepsy , 2017, Epilepsia.

[12]  H. Holling,et al.  Long-Term Memory Performance in Adult ADHD , 2017, Journal of attention disorders.

[13]  S. Wiebe,et al.  Global assessment of the severity of epilepsy (GASE) Scale in children: Validity, reliability, responsiveness , 2015, Epilepsia.

[14]  E. Kerr,et al.  Near‐transfer effects following working memory intervention (Cogmed) in children with symptomatic epilepsy: An open randomized clinical trial , 2015, Epilepsia.

[15]  Sarah J Wilson,et al.  The new approach to classification: Rethinking cognition and behavior in epilepsy , 2014, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[16]  E. Sherman,et al.  Attention and Executive Functions in Children With Epilepsy: What, Why, and What to Do , 2014, Applied neuropsychology. Child.

[17]  M. Smith,et al.  Accelerated long-term forgetting in children with temporal lobe epilepsy , 2014, Neuropsychologia.

[18]  Ulrich Mayr,et al.  Long-term memory and the control of attentional control , 2014, Cognitive Psychology.

[19]  R. Elwes,et al.  Impaired cognitive function in idiopathic generalized epilepsy and unaffected family members: An epilepsy endophenotype , 2014, Epilepsia.

[20]  W. D’Souza,et al.  Cognitive functioning in idiopathic generalised epilepsies: A systematic review and meta-analysis , 2014, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[21]  A. Mohamed,et al.  Accelerated long-term forgetting of verbal information in unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy: Is it related to structural hippocampal abnormalities and/or incomplete learning? , 2014, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[22]  John Dunlosky,et al.  Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology , 2012 .

[23]  S. Lah,et al.  Accelerated long‐term forgetting in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy , 2012, Epilepsia.

[24]  Jonathan J. Evans,et al.  Accelerated long-term forgetting in temporal lobe epilepsy: Verbal, nonverbal and autobiographical memory , 2012, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[25]  K. Valente,et al.  Memory in children with temporal lobe epilepsy is at least partially explained by executive dysfunction , 2012, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[26]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Spaced retrieval: absolute spacing enhances learning regardless of relative spacing. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[27]  J. Halámek,et al.  Ictal and peri-ictal oscillations in the human basal ganglia in temporal lobe epilepsy , 2011, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[28]  A. C. Butler,et al.  The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention , 2011, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[29]  N. Kapur,et al.  When “long-term memory” no longer means “forever”: Analysis of accelerated long-term forgetting in a patient with temporal lobe epilepsy , 2010, Neuropsychologia.

[30]  M. McDaniel,et al.  The relationship between working memory capacity and executive functioning: evidence for a common executive attention construct. , 2010, Neuropsychology.

[31]  M. D’Esposito.  Working memory. , 2008, Handbook of clinical neurology.

[32]  S. Zuberi,et al.  Memory consolidation and accelerated forgetting in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy , 2007, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[33]  C. Scialfa,et al.  Does Impaired Executive Functioning Differentially Impact Verbal Memory Measures in Older Adults with Suspected Dementia? , 2006, The Clinical neuropsychologist.

[34]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Test-Enhanced Learning , 2006, Psychological science.

[35]  Ruta Mameniskiene,et al.  The decay of memory between delayed and long-term recall in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy , 2006, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[36]  R A McCarthy,et al.  Accelerated forgetting in patients with epilepsy: evidence for an impairment in memory consolidation. , 2000, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[37]  P Alvarez,et al.  Memory consolidation and the medial temporal lobe: a simple network model. , 1994, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[38]  H. P. Bahrick.  Maintenance of knowledge: Questions about memory we forgot to ask. , 1979 .