Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting: Prolonged Delayed Recognition as Sensitive Measurement for Different Profiles of Long-Term Memory and Metacognitive Confidence in Stroke Patients

• DOI: 10.1017/s1355617721000527
• Publication Date: 2021-05-06T06:34:35Z
• Authors: Nikki A. Lammers; Selma Lugtmeijer; Edward H.F. de Haan; Roy P.C. Kessels
• Keywords: Stroke; Memory Disorders; Neuro- en revalidatiepsychologie; Memory, Long-Term; Neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology; Mental Recall; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests

AbstractObjective:Deficits in episodic memory are frequently reported after ischemic stroke. In standard clinical care, episodic memory is assessed after a 20–30 min delay, with abnormal memory decay over this period being characterized as rapid forgetting (RF). Previous studies have shown abnormal forgetting over a prolonged interval (days to weeks) despite normal acquisition, referred to as accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF).Method:We examined whether ALF is present in stroke patients (N = 91) using immediate testing (T1), testing after a short delay (20–30 min, T2), and testing after a prolonged delay (one week, T3). Based on performance compared to matched controls (N = 85), patients were divided into (1) patients without forgetting, (2) patients with RF between T1 and T2, and (3) patients with ALF at T3. Furthermore, confidence ratings were assessed.Results:ALF was present in a moderate amount of stroke patients (17%), but ALF was even more prevalent in our stroke sample than RF after a 20–30 min delay (which was found in only 13% of our patients). Patients reported a lower confidence for their responses, independent of their actual performance.Conclusions:Adding a one-week delayed measurement may potentially assist in identifying patients with memory decrements that may otherwise go undetected.