title: Acute memory deficits in chemotherapy-treated adults.
abstract: Data from research on amnesia and epilepsy are equivocal with regards to the dissociation, shown in animal models, between rapid and slow long-term memory consolidation. Cancer treatments have lasting disruptive effects on memory and on brain structures associated with memory, but their acute effects on synaptic consolidation are unknown. We investigated the hypothesis that cancer treatment selectively impairs slow synaptic consolidation. Cancer patients and their matched controls were administered a novel list-learning task modelled on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Learning, forgetting, and retrieval were tested before, and one day after patients' first chemotherapy treatment. Due to difficulties recruiting cancer patients at that sensitive time, we were only able to study 10 patients and their matched controls. Patients exhibited treatment-dependent accelerated forgetting over 24 hours compared to their own pre-treatment performance and to the performance of control participants, in agreement with our hypothesis. The number of intrusions increased after treatment, suggesting retrieval deficits. Future research with larger samples should adapt our methods to distinguish between consolidation and retrieval causes for treatment-dependent accelerated forgetting. The presence of significant accelerated forgetting in our small sample is indicative of a potentially large acute effect of chemotherapy treatment on forgetting, with potentially clinically relevant implications.
authors.affiliation: a Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.|b Patient Centred Outcomes Research Group, Level 3, Bexley Wing , St. James's Institute of Oncology , Leeds , UK.
authors.forename: Oana C
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5442-8393
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.affiliation: a Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.affiliation: c Division of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors.forename: Martin G
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5138-0707
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.affiliation: a Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7720-2706
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Talmi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Memory; cancer; chemotherapy; cognition; forgetting