Accelerated long-term forgetting is not evident in adults with genetic generalized epilepsy irrespective of the paradigm used

Abstract

Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is a recently discovered memory disorder characterized by intact acquisition and retention over short delays, followed by abnormally fast rates of forgetting. Accelerated long-term forgetting has been repeatedly found in children, but not in adults, with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). It is possible that this discrepancy is due to a difference in paradigms used in these studies. The current study aimed to determine whether adults with GGE displayed ALF using two paradigms, one that required complete learning and another one that did not. In addition, we explored the relationships with everyday memory difficulties, working memory, mood, and epilepsy variables. Fourteen adults with GGE were compared with 16 healthy controls on two verbal memory tests: a modified version of the California Verbal Learning Test learned to a criterion of 100% (complete learning) and Logical Memory from the Wechsler Memory Scale (Fourth Edition) presented only once (incomplete learning). Recall was tested at 2 min, 30 min, and 1 week, and recognition at 1 week only. Working memory, everyday memory, and mood were also assessed. We found no evidence of ALF on either of the two verbal memory paradigms on recall or recognition tests although patients displayed significantly poorer working memory. Moreover, patients with GGE reported significantly more memory difficulties in everyday life, and these were associated with greater mood disturbances but not with memory tests scores. Greater number of antiepileptic drugs and epilepsy severity also related to memory scores on some tests. Our study suggests that a difference in paradigms used to investigate ALF in children and adults with GGE is unlikely to explain the differences in findings. The study tentatively raises a hypothesis that developmental factors may play a role in ALF in patients with GGE; children with GGE may grow out of ALF. Nevertheless, this hypothesis would need to be tested in a longitudinal study that would follow patients from childhood to early adulthood.