title: Accelerated forgetting? An evaluation on the use of long-term forgetting rates in patients with memory problems.
abstract: The main focus of this review was to evaluate whether long-term forgetting rates (delayed tests, days, to weeks, after initial learning) are more sensitive measures than standard delayed recall measures to detect memory problems in various patient groups. It has been suggested that accelerated forgetting might be characteristic for epilepsy patients, but little research has been performed in other populations. Here, we identified eleven studies in a wide range of brain injured patient groups, whose long-term forgetting patterns were compared to those of healthy controls. Signs of accelerated forgetting were found in three studies. The results of eight studies showed normal forgetting over time for the patient groups. However, most of the studies used only a recognition procedure, after optimizing initial learning. Based on these results, we recommend the use of a combined recall and recognition procedure to examine accelerated forgetting and we discuss the relevance of standard and optimized learning procedures in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital Nijmegen, Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geurts
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sieberen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: van der Werf
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands ; Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Netherlands ; Centre of Excellence for Korsakoff and Alchohol-Related Cognitive Disorders, Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry Venray, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roy P C
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Kessels
keywords: amnesia; episodic memory; long-term memory; memory consolidation; neuropsychological tests