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Spatial Memory and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Spatial Memory and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06847152
Acronym
EPINAVIG
Enrollment
60
Registered
2025-02-26
Start date
2025-02-26
Completion date
2025-10-20
Last updated
2026-06-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Epilepsy, Epilepsy Lobe Temporal, Healthy

Keywords

epilespsy, lobe temporal, spatial memory, navigation task, accelerated forgetting

Brief summary

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) can cause memory disorders, including long-term forgetfulness due to a failure to consolidate verbal but also spatial information. The forgetting phenomenon presented by these epileptic patients is called accelerated forgetting in the literature and remains difficult to objectify during cognitive assessments. It is indeed particularly complicated to evaluate long-term spatial memory and to account for the topographical complaint, although recurrent, of patients with this TLE. A navigation task being proposed as part of the neuropsychological assessment of patients with a spatial memory complaint, it is interesting to study the performance pattern of patients with TLE by comparing them to a group of control subjects matched in age and gender in order to verify whether there is significant long-term forgetting and whether there is a significant difference between Right TLE and Left TLE. Indeed, several studies have demonstrated this accelerated long-term forgetting in epileptic patients (Cassel et al., 2016; Lemesle et al., 2017; Landry et al., 2022; Blake et al., 2020) but few with a retention delay of several weeks (Tramoni et al., 2009). This study allows us to statistically analyze the effects of these two groups: epileptic patients and healthy volunteers, but also to combine the effect of the laterality of epilepsy specifically on spatial memory performance.

Detailed description

In order to assess the long-term spatial memory capacities of epileptic patients with memory complaints, a navigation task was proposed as part of the neuropsychological assessment. This task corresponds to learning a route within the hospital. It is composed of a learning phase and then the patient is asked to repeat the route one hour later and then six weeks later, in order to check for the presence or absence of long-term forgetting. We wanted to study the results of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) by comparing them to a group of healthy volunteers matched in age and gender in order to check whether there is significant long-term forgetting and whether there is a significant difference between Right TLE and Left TLE. This study therefore aims to statistically analyze the effects of these two groups: epileptic patients and healthy volunteers, but also to combine the effect of the laterality of epilepsy specifically on spatial memory performance. It will also be interesting to observe whether there is a difference between men and women in the healthy volunteer group for spatial memory learning.

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTspatial memory test

The assessment of spatial memory corresponds in our study to a navigation task, i.e. learning a route through the hospital. The route encoding phase is first carried out. The participant follows the experimenter, with the instruction to pay close attention to the route in order to be able to do it again alone. For directions, it is said "this way" or "that way" and not "left" or "right". The route includes 18 intersections. The participant immediately does the route again alone. The number of correct answers (BR), i.e. correct directions taken at each intersection, is counted as well as the time to complete the route (TR). Direction errors are corrected. This is recall 1. The participant is then asked to do the route a second time. The correct answers and the times to complete the route are recorded. Errors are corrected (feedback). This is recall 2. If the participant makes a mistake on recall 1 or 2, a third attempt is made. This is recall 3. After an interval of 1 hour, the partic

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Metropole Savoie
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

\- healthy volunteers meeting each of the following criteria: * Aged over 18 years * Right-handed\* * Free of known neurological pathology * Signed consent * Matched in age (+ or - 5 years) and gender with epileptic patients presenting the characteristics below: * Right-handed\* * adult * presenting temporal lobe epilepsy, whose lateralization of the epileptogenic focus (right or left) has been objectified by an examination (EEG and/or MRI), * having carried out a neuropsychological assessment including the navigation task, * having been informed of the study, and consenting to the processing of their data

Exclusion criteria

* Person referred to in Article L1121-5 of the Public Health Code: Pregnant, parturient, or breastfeeding women * Person referred to in Article L1121-6 of the Public Health Code: persons deprived of their judicial or administrative freedom * Person referred to in Article L1121-8 of the Public Health Code: persons subject to a legal protection measure or unable to express their consent * Person referred to in Article L1121-8-1 of the Public Health Code: persons not affiliated to a social security scheme * Left-handed participants * Participants familiar with the premises of the Centre Hospitalier Métropole Savoie * Not speaking French

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Changes of the number of correct responses from 1h to 6 weeks, compared between healthy volunteers and epileptic patients1 hour and 6 weeksThe number of correct responses is defined as the number of intersections correctly crossed.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Changes in test performance from 1h to 6 weeks, compared according to epileptogenic focus (right or left) lateralization.at 1 hour and 6 weeks.Test performance is evaluated by completion time (TR) and number of correct responses (BR).
Changes in test performance from 1h to 6 weeks, compared between male and female in the healthy volunteers groupat 1 hour and 6 weeks.Test performance is evaluated by completion time (TR) and number of correct responses (BR).

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 12, 2026