Systematic Review of Accelerated Long-term Forgetting in Children and Adolescents With Neuropediatric Diseases

Abstract

Purposeof review: Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) describes the phenomenon of normal learning and memory performance after short delays, but greater forgetting after longer delays which is not objectified in standardized memory tests. The topic is attracting increasing interest due to its clinical importance. Studies investigating pediatric ALF remain rare and no systematic review exists.Recent findings:Based on our systematic literature search, twelve studies were found. Although most studies investigated ALF in children with epilepsy (n = 9), there is also evidence of ALF in children after traumatic brain injury (n = 1) and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (n = 1).Summary:To date, only a dozen of studies have investigated pediatric ALF. There is evidence that ALF is not an epilepsy-specific disorder, replicating findings of studies with adult patients. As ALF is missed using standardized assessments, we propose to add delayed time-points of testing memory performance.

Impaired episodic verbal memory recall after 1 week and elevated forgetting in children after mild traumatic brain injury – results from a short-term longitudinal study

“…Similar to findings in children after severe TBI ( Lah et al, 2017 ), our results imply that patients with mTBI have a reduced 1-week recall and elevated forgetting over time. Thus, our results suggest that patients without epilepsy can also have elevated forgetting, as recently concluded in a systematic review of ALF in neuropediatric patients ( Stähli et al, 2022 ). Given that these children would have been missed by a standardized memory test, our results suggest that delayed recall measures should be included in clinical neuropsychological evaluation of patients with neurological disease or acquired injuries.…”

“…So far, ALF has been identified in adult patients with epilepsy ( Mameniskiene et al, 2020 ), after stroke ( Geurts et al, 2019 ; Lammers et al, 2022 ), and in patients with pre-symptomatic Alzheimer disease ( Weston et al, 2018 ; Rodini et al, 2022 ). To date, only a few studies have investigated ALF in childhood, most of which were conducted in children with epilepsy ( Stähli et al, 2022 ). Given that most studies so far have focused on epilepsy patients, it was assumed that ALF is related to the presence of seizures.…”

“…However, if verbal recognition and recall after 1 week is impaired, as seen in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy ( Gascoigne et al, 2012 ) and in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome ( Maeder et al, 2020 ), ALF could be interpreted as a consolidation problem. So far, few studies in children have investigated delayed recall and recognition performance, although such studies would be necessary to determine whether ALF is an impairment of retrieval, consolidation or both ( Stähli et al, 2022 ).…”

Long-term forgetting is independent of age in healthy children and adolescents

“…So far, research on ALF focused mainly on adult patients ( Elliott et al, 2014 ). Literature describing ALF in the pediatric age group is scarce ( Guimarães et al, 2007 ; Kernan et al, 2012 ; Gascoigne et al, 2014 , 2019 ; Stahli et al, 2022 ; Studer et al, 2023 ), although ALF could have dramatic effects on children’s academic performance. Currently, however, standardized memory tests cannot capture ALF in the pediatric population since there is little knowledge about the normal developmental dynamics and the neuropsychological factors affecting memory recall and loss after more than 30 min.…”