Summary Purpose Some patients with epilepsy demonstrate normal memory when this is tested at relatively short intervals (e.g., 30 min), but substantial loss over longer delay periods (e.g., days or weeks) when compared to healthy control subjects. This pattern of “accelerated long‐term forgetting” (ALF) affects the everyday lives of patients, yet goes undetected by standard neuropsychological memory tests, and its pathophysiologic basis is poorly understood. By testing memory over a period of concurrent ambulatory electroencephalography (EEG), the current study aimed to investigate possible factors contributing to ALF. Methods Thirty‐nine patients diagnosed with epilepsy or probable epilepsy underwent 5 days of continuous ambulatory EEG: 18 had normal EEG studies, 10 had focal epileptic discharges, 5 had generalized epileptic discharges, and 6 had one or more seizures. Fifteen matched healthy control subjects also participated, but did not undergo EEG. Subjects were taught 13‐item word and design lists to criterion, and recall was tested at 30 min, 24 h, and 4 days. Subjects also completed questionnaires pertaining to everyday memory and mood. Key Findings Group analyses (excluding patients who experienced seizures during monitoring) indicated that patients who experienced generalized discharges during the 24‐h to 4‐day delay intervals showed higher rates of forgetting for nonverbal information. Those with focal discharges showed ALF between 30 min and 4 days for verbal information, whereas those with normal EEGs over the 4 days recording had no evidence of ALF. Surprisingly, mood and epilepsy variables (such as duration of disease or number of anticonvulsant medications) showed no significant correlation with ALF. Although no aspect of nighttime sleep architecture was found to be related to recall after the first 24 h, daytime naps were associated with better retention. Self‐report of everyday memory functioning was related to recall at longer delays, but not at 30 min. Significance The present findings indicated that ALF in epilepsy is associated with subclinical discharges rather than antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), mood or sleep disturbance. Measures of longer‐term recall can reveal correlations with subjective everyday memory complaints that are not evident when recall is only tested at a standard (30 min) delay interval. These findings have the potential to improve treatment strategies for patients who complain of memory difficulties.

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. (2007) "Sexually dimorphic effects of acute nicotine administration on arousal and visual-spatial ability in nonsmoking human volunteers" Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 86 (4),[758][759][760][761][762][763][764][765] http://epublications.bond.edu.au/hss_pubs/336 The effect of an acute administration of nicotine on arousal and visual-spatial ability in healthy non-smoking participants was investigated. Healthy adult volunteers with a mean age of 19.98 years received a transdermal nicotine or placebo patch prior to completing a water level task and two mental rotation tasks while concurrent psychophysiological recordings were taken. Nicotine administration showed a sexually dimorphic effect on arousal (skin conductance level and heart rate). Evidence of superior performance in males compared to females was found in reaction time and accuracy measures for the visual-spatial tasks. However, performance reflected the interaction between sex and nicotine. Nicotine slowed reaction times in the mental rotation tasks more extensively in females than males. Nicotine also reduced confidence in performance during the water level task in males, but not females. The effects of nicotine on visual-spatial ability may reflect the interactive effects of sex and changes in arousal levels induced by nicotine administration.

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