Four-hour delayed memory recall for stories: Theoretical and clinical implications of measuring accelerated long-term forgetting

Abstract

It has been noted that clinical neuropsychological assessment is "blind" to certain abnormalities of consolidation that occur beyond standard 30-min delay intervals. For example, normal forgetting at 30-min delays has been followed by enhanced forgetting at longer delays in temporal-lobe epilepsy, termed accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF). To evaluate whether ALF could be identified in the neuropsychological assessment of a small sample of examinees with head injuries or other neurological diagnoses (n = 42), a 4-hr delayed recall condition was added to the Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition. A small percentage of examinees (5/42 or 11%), despite exhibiting unimpaired story recall immediately and after 30-min delays, showed increased forgetting when compared with the average retention of stories (M = 0.83, SD = 0.17) after a 4-hr delay. Three of these 5 examinees also had impaired scores on 20-min delayed recall of the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) and would have been identified as having memory impairment without an extended, 4-hr delayed recall. In fact, the highest correlation among memory indexes was between 4-hr delayed recall of stories and delayed recall of the CVLT-II word list (r = .59, p < .0001), suggesting different consolidation rates for relational and nonrelational material.

Impact of COPD and anemia on motor and cognitive performance in the general older population: results from the English longitudinal study of ageing

“…For example, for relational and non-relational material, different memory consolidation rates have been suggested [31]. The test used in the current study may not optimally reflect the capability of our participants to remember facts relevant for their daily living [31]. Despite the longitudinal character of the ELSA study, general attrition of participants high (Fig.…”

“…Furthermore, with regard to cognitive function, more extensive and specific neuropsychological testing would have been preferred. For example, for relational and non-relational material, different memory consolidation rates have been suggested [31]. The test used in the current study may not optimally reflect the capability of our participants to remember facts relevant for their daily living [31].…”