Autobiographical Memory in Children with Epilepsy

Autobiographical memory involves the recall of personal facts (semantic memory) and re-experiencing of specific personal events (episodic memory). An increasing amount of research has explored autobiographical memory in adults with epilepsy, however little work has been done in children with epilepsy. In the current study 10 children with generalized and focal epilepsy and 10 age and sex-matched controls were administered the Childrens Autobiographical Memory Interview. Children with epilepsy showed deficits in the recall of episodic, but not semantic autobiographical memory in comparison to controls. Children with generalized epilepsy showed impairments in episodic autobiographical memory in contrast to patients with focal epilepsy. Exploratory analyses revealed that verbal memory and language, and age of first seizure were related to episodic autobiographical events. These results have implications for the adjustment of children with epilepsy, so that earlier diagnosis and intervention programs may be placed in order to allow these children to function maximally