Accelerated forgetting and sleep in children with epilepsy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Accelerated long-term forgetting and behavioural sleep disruption in children with Genetic Generalised Epilepsy (GGE).
IRAS ID
156692
Contact name
Liam Dorris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Research summary
This project aims to identify whether there is a relationship between sleep and a specific feature of memory (accelerated long-term forgetting) in children and young people with epilepsy. The patient group to be included in this research are children aged between 9 and 16 years old who have a diagnosis of Genetic Generalised Epilepsy (GGE). Participants' sleep will be measured using self and parental-report questionnaires, sleep diaries and actigraphy. An actigraph is a nonintrusive wristwatch-like device that can be worn on the wrist or ankle while sleeping. It records and monitors movement, providing an estimate of sleep times based on periods of immobility. Actigraphy provides objective information on sleep-wake cycles in the participant's natural sleep environment. Seven nights of actigraph data will be gathered. Standardised neuropsychological tests will be used to measure participants' memory abilities before and after their sleep has been recorded. These measures will be administered by the main researcher to participants on two separate visits to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Glasgow or Edinburgh), a week apart. Recruitment for this study will last approximately eight months and the write up will be completed by July 2015. The study further develops previous research in the area of accelerated long-term forgetting and children with epilepsy, carried out within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Glasgow University. The outcome of this research will be used to help us to understand whether sleep is related to accelerated long-term forgetting in children with epilepsy. Potentially it could highlight practical applications for management of sleep problems in improving the learning of children with epilepsy. In addition, the research fulfils the requirements of Glasgow University Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
14/NS/1054
Date of REC Opinion
10 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion