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Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy: a neurodevelopmental or progressively dementing disease?
Helmstaedter C, Elger CE.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2009-07-27
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
To what degree does the so-called 'initial hit' of the brain versus chronic epilepsy contribute towards the memory impairment observed in chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients? We examined cross-sectional comparisons of age-related regressions of verbal learning and memory in 1156 patients with chronic TLE (age range 6-68 years, mean epilepsy onset 14 +/- 11 years) versus 1000 healthy control subjects (age range 6-80 years) and tested the hypothesis that deviations of age regressions (i.e. slowed rise, accelerated decline) will reveal critical phases during which epilepsy interferes with cognitive development. Patients were recruited over a 20-year period at the Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn.
Key findings
- We examined cross-sectional comparisons of age-related regressions of verbal learning and memory in 1156 patients with chronic TLE (age range 6-68 years, mean epilepsy onset 14 +/- 11 years) versus 1000 healthy control subjects (age range 6-80 years) and tested the hypothesis that deviations of age regressions (i.e. slowed rise, accelerated decline) will reveal critical phases during which epilepsy interferes with cognitive development.
- Patients were recruited over a 20-year period at the Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn.
- Healthy subjects were drawn from an updated normative population of the Verbaler Lern- und Merkfähigkeitstest, the German pendant to the Rey Auditory Verbal learning Test.
- A significant divergence of age regressions indicates that patients fail to build up adequate learning and memory performance during childhood and particularly during adolescence.
Why it matters
This study examined memory in people with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy compared with healthy controls, not Alzheimer's disease. It provides no information about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants1,156
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 57/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Brain: journal h-index 503 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2009 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,156 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 269 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 14.2 citations a year over 19 year(s) since 2009 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 36 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Christian Erich Elger: h-index 139 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Bonn: institution h-index 1,072 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19635728) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 57 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Helmstaedter, C., & Elger, C. E. (2009). Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy: a neurodevelopmental or progressively dementing disease? Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awp182
Vancouver
Helmstaedter C, Elger CE. Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy: a neurodevelopmental or progressively dementing disease? Brain : a journal of neurology. 2009. doi:10.1093/brain/awp182. PMID: 19635728.
BibTeX
@article{helmstaedter2009-19635728,
author = {Helmstaedter, C. and Elger, C. E.},
title = {{Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy: a neurodevelopmental or progressively dementing disease?}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1093/brain/awp182},
pmid = {19635728},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awp182}
}
Later studies that cite this one
1 study in the alzhub library lists this one in its references.