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.

OBJECTIVE

There is preliminary evidence that children after traumatic brain injury (TBI) have accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF), i.e., an adequate learning and memory performance in standardized memory tests, but an excessive rate of forgetting over delays of days or weeks. The main aim of this study was to investigate episodic memory performance, including delayed retrieval 1 week after learning, in children after mild TBI (mTBI).

METHODS

This prospective study with two time-points (T1: 1 week after injury and T2: 3-6 months after injury), included data of 64 children after mTBI and 57 healthy control children aged between 8 and 16 years. We assessed episodic learning and memory using an auditory word learning test and compared executive functions (interference control, working memory, semantic fluency and flexibility) and divided attention between groups. We explored correlations between memory performance and executive functions. Furthermore, we examined predictive factors for delayed memory retrieval 1 week after learning as well as for forgetting over time.

RESULTS

Compared to healthy controls, patients showed an impaired delayed recall and recognition performance 3-6 months after injury. Executive functions, but not divided attention, were reduced in children after mTBI. Furthermore, parents rated episodic memory as impaired 3-6 months after injury. Additionally, verbal learning and group, but not executive functions, were predictive for delayed recall performance at both time-points, whereas forgetting was predicted by group.

DISCUSSION

Delayed recall and forgetting over time were significantly different between groups, both post-acutely and in the chronic phase after pediatric mTBI, even in a very mildly injured patient sample. Delayed memory performance should be included in clinical evaluations of episodic memory and further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of ALF.