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

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Pediatric Neurology

Background:

• Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is a memory deficit impacting learning and daily life.
• Epilepsy, particularly genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), may affect memory functions in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate ALF in children with GGE and TLE using standardized verbal memory tests.
• To determine the influence of executive functions and repeated testing on ALF in pediatric epilepsy populations.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 123 children (8-16 years) including those with GGE, TLE, and typically developing (TD) controls completed executive functioning and verbal memory assessments.
• Memory was tested via immediate and delayed recall (30-min), with one story assessed at 1-day and 2-weeks, and another at 2-weeks only. Recognition was tested at 2-weeks.

Main Results:

• Children with epilepsy exhibited poorer immediate and 30-min story recall compared to TD children.
• The GGE group, unlike the TLE group, demonstrated ALF, showing significantly worse recall for the story tested only at the 2-week delay.
• ALF in children with epilepsy was significantly correlated with deficits in executive skills.

Conclusions:

• Standardized verbal memory tests administered over extended delays can effectively detect ALF in children with epilepsy.
• ALF in pediatric epilepsy is associated with impaired executive functions.
• Repeated testing over long delays may potentially reduce the impact of ALF in some children with epilepsy.