Measuring forgetting: a critical review of accelerated long-term forgetting studies.

Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) refers to abnormal forgetting over hours to weeks despite normal acquisition or initial consolidation. Since standardised assessments of memory typically only test at delays of up to 40-minutes, ALF may go undetected in clinical practice. The memory difficulties associated with ALF can however cause considerable distress to patients.

Can temporal lobe epilepsy surgery ameliorate accelerated long-term forgetting?

Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is a relatively newly identified phenomenon in neuropsychology which has been associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). ALF is characterised by intact acquisition and retention of memories over delays of minutes and hours, but abnormally fast forgetting over delays of 24h or more. The causes of ALF are unknown; however disruption of "slow" consolidation processes through seizure activity in the temporal lobes is proposed as a possible explanation.

Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of depression in people with multiple sclerosis: external pilot trial.

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at high risk of depression. We undertook a pilot trial of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) for the treatment of depression in people with MS to test the feasibility of undertaking a full trial.

Methods: Participants with a diagnosis of MS and clinical levels of depression were recruited through out-patient clinics and postal screening questionnaires at two UK centres and randomised to CCBT or usual care.

Adversarial growth in patients with multiple sclerosis and their partners: relationships with illness perceptions, disability and distress.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their partners show adversarial growth and to examine which psychological and disability variables contribute to this in patients and their partners. The study also investigated the relationship between growth and distress. Seventy-two patients with MS and their partners provided demographic information and completed measures of posttraumatic growth, illness perceptions, depression, cognitive function and disability.

Depression in multiple sclerosis: reactive or endogenous?

Multiple sclerosis is associated with high rates of depression. The extent to which this is related to living with chronic illness or part of the disease process remains unclear. This question was investigated by comparing rates of depression in MS with those in rheumatoid arthritis, which involves similar physical and psychosocial stressors but without central nervous system involvement.

The acceptability of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of depression in people with chronic physical disease: a qualitative study of people with multiple sclerosis.

Background: People with chronic physical conditions are at elevated risk of depression. Due to a shortage of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) practitioners, computerised CBT (CCBT) is recommended for people with mild to moderate depression. We assessed the applicability of CCBT for the treatment of depression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Memory complaints in epilepsy: an accurate reflection of memory impairment or an indicator of poor adjustment? A review of the literature.

People with epilepsy frequently complain of poor memory. Although organic memory impairment is one possible sequela of neuro-epilepsy variables, these complaints are not consistently supported by performance on objective measures. The current review has two objectives: first, to establish whether inconsistent results are an artifact of methodology and second, to collate existing published literature to identify possible explanations for inaccurate memory self-report in epilepsy.

What is it like to receive a diagnosis of nonepileptic seizures?

The aim of this qualitative study was to provide insight into the experience of receiving the diagnosis of nonepileptic seizures (NES) from the patient's perspective. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight patients who had received the diagnosis of NES over the preceding 6 months. All participants were on a waiting list for psychological treatment.

A comparison of emotional and cognitive intelligence in people with and without temporal lobe epilepsy.

Medial temporal lobe structures have been hypothesized to be important in emotional intelligence (EI) and social cognition. There is some evidence associating temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with impairments in social cognition. This study aimed to establish whether TLE is also associated with deficits in EI.

Is posttraumatic stress disorder associated with specific deficits in episodic memory?

People with PTSD often report difficulties remembering day to day information unrelated to their traumatic episode. In addition, structural and functional imaging techniques have identified abnormalities in the brains of people with PTSD in regions known to be important for memory functioning. Nevertheless, studies investigating cognitive functioning in people with PTSD have reported widely varying results.

Long-term amnesia: a review and detailed illustrative case study.

Long-term amnesia is a slowly developing form of anterograde amnesia accompanied by retrograde amnesia of variable severity (Kapur, 1996; 1997) often associated with damage to the anterior temporal neocortex and epileptic seizures. The precise neural and functional deficits that underlie this condition are unknown. A patient, JL, who has this condition following a closed-head injury, is described in detail.