Accelerated long‐term forgetting in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy

Abstract

SUMMARYPurpose: The rapid forgetting of information over long (but not short) delays (accelerated long-term forgetting [ALF]) has been associated with temporal lobe epilepsy but not idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Long-term memory formation (consolidation) is thought to demand an interaction between medial temporal and neocortical networks, which could be disrupted by epilepsy/seizures themselves. The present study investigates whether ALF is present in children with IGE and whether it relates to epilepsy severity. Methods: Sixty-one children (20 with IGE and 41 healthy controls [HC]) of comparable age, sex, and parental socioeconomic status completed neuropsychological tests, including a measure of verbal learning and recall after, short (30-min) and long (7-day) delays, and recognition. Epilepsy severity was rated by treating neurologists. Key Findings: A two-way repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) found a significant Group x Delay interaction; the children with IGE recalled (and recognized) significantly fewer words after a long, but not short (2-and 30-min) delay relative to the HC children. Moreover, greater epilepsy severity was associated with poorer recognition. Significance: This study demonstrates, to our knowledge for the first time, that children with IGE present with ALF, which is related to epilepsy severity. These findings support the notion that epilepsy/seizures themselves may disrupt long-term memory consolidation, which interferes with day-to-day functioning of children with IGE.

Story Learning Test: Decelerated Learning and Accelerated Forgetting in Children with Epilepsy

“…Children with epilepsy have an increased risk for memory problems (Menlove and Reilly 2015). When comparing children with epilepsy to typically developing children, studies have shown lowered memory scores on working memory, word lists and stories, irrespective of type of epilepsy (Gascoigne et al 2012;Jambaqué et al 1993;Lopes et al 2014;Northcott et al 2007;Rzezak et al 2017;van Iterson and de Jong 2018). Some conflicting evidence has been found for effects of lateralisation of seizures in focal epilepsy.…”

Autobiographical Memory in Children with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

“…Moreover, in patients who underwent temporal lobectomy, the absence of seizures and being off anti-epileptic drugs was associated with better semantic recall . Finally, seizures themselves may interfere with consolidation (in adults: Blake, Wroe, Breen, & McCarthy, 2000;Mameniskiene, Jatruzis, Kaubrys, & Budrys, 2006;Muhlert et al, 2011; in children: Gascoigne et al, 2012), which in turn could compromise autobiographical memory. Finally, as the hippocampus is purported to be critical for both new learning and recall of past personally experienced episodes, it was expected that the correlations between scores obtained on these two types of memory tests will be high.…”

Psychiatric and Behavioural Disorders in Children with Epilepsy (ILAE Task Force Report): Subtle behavioural and cognitive manifestations of epilepsy

“…It presents as recurrent transient episodes of memory loss; it can be associated with accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) and autobiographical memory loss. Gascoigne et al (2012) demonstrated that children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) may present with ALF, which is related to epilepsy severity. They suggested that their findings might support the notion that the epilepsy or the seizures themselves might disrupt long-term memory consolidation.…”