Work

Practice Effects and Long Delays: A Case Report Exploring a Novel Approach to Detecting Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting (ALF) is when newly learned information "decays" faster than expected over an extended period and is associated with temporal-lobe epilepsy (TLE). There is no well-established method for assessing ALF despite its apparent prevalence. We hypothesized that evidencing an absence of practice effects may represent an effective approach to detecting ALF. We sought to determine if this method, along with the long-delay memory tests, could evidence ALF in a single case. METHOD: We present a 66-year-old male with TLE who had memory complaints despite a stable memory profile over 4 years. Memory tests that employ a short (20-30 min) and a long delay (4 days) condition were used to assess forgetting, whereas repeatedly administered tests were used to detect practice effects. We anticipated poorer memory performance on the long versus short-delay test condition and a lack of improvement on memory tests that were repeated. RESULTS: For repeat administration tests, there was a marked score increase, indicating practice effects, for verbal and visual domains. For long delay tests, however, there was a notable drop with retention falling in the exceptionally low range. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a dissociation between long delay and serial assessment tasks for detecting ALF.

Source: Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology

DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acaf077

Authors: Chris Gaskell, Cleo Keeling-Ball, Callum Furniss, Jonathan Evans

Institutions: North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, University of Sheffield, University of Glasgow

Language: English

Topic: Memory Processes and Influences

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,823