New Insights About Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting in Epilepsy
Here’s evidence that ALF may be an important memory disorder in subgroups of patients with epilepsy.
Here’s evidence that accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) may be an important memory disorder in subgroups of patients with epilepsy.
Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting: Overlooked in Epilepsy?
ALF is memory loss that occurs after days or weeks in a patient with normal short-term memory
Incidence rates and underlying causes of ALF in epilepsy are unknown
Standard memory testing usually evaluates shorter term memory deficits, and may not detect ALF
Research suggests that some patients with epilepsy may experience ALF, especially those with temporal lobe abnormalities
New insights on ALF in Focal Epilepsy[1]
Conducted at the University of Sydney
Included 44 patients with focal seizures
Used two standardized, 15-item lists to test memory at 30 minutes and 7 days:
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT): tests word recall
Aggie Figures Test: tests recall of abstract line drawings
ALF: normal short-term results, impaired 7-day results
Compared results to a control group of 60 patients without neurological or psychological history
ALF Increased in Focal Epilepsy
Nearly twice as many patients with focal seizures showed ALF vs controls (23% vs 12%)
33% of patients with ALF had temporal lobe epilepsy
Hippocampal lesions were the main predicting factor
-ALF found in 41% of patients with hippocampal lesions vs only 11% without (p<.05)
Test Type Influences Detection of ALF
Rates of ALF differed based on test type:
-RAVLT: 18% of patients with focal epilepsy had ALF
-Aggie Figure Test: 7% of patients with focal epilepsy had ALF
Standard Testing May Miss ALF in Focal Epilepsy
Patients with focal seizures may show memory deficits at longer delays than standard evaluation can pick up
Adding long term recall questions to standard memory assessments may detect ALF
ALF may be most common in temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal lesions
Take Home Points
.Small, single center study adds to evidence that ALF may be an important memory disorder in epilepsy
.ALF prevalence may be higher in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal lesions
.Standard testing may miss ALF
.Incidence of ALF may vary based on type of test; testing word recall after one week may be particularly helpful in detecting ALF in focal epilepsy
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