Abstract
Autobiographical memory (AM) comprises representation of both specific (episodic) and generic (semantic) personal information. Depression is characterized by a shift from episodic to semantic AM retrieval. According to theoretical models, this process (“overgeneralization”), would be linked to reduced executive resources. Moreover, “overgeneral” memories, accompanied by a negativity bias in depression, lead to a pervasive negative self-representation. As executive functions and AM specificity are also closely intricate among “non-clinical” populations, “overgeneral” memories could result in depressive emotional responses. Consequently, our hypothesis was that the neurocognitive profile of healthy subjects showing a rigid negative self-image would mimic that of patients. Executive functions and self-image were measured and brain activity was recorded, by means of fMRI, during episodic AMs retrieval in young healthy subjects. The results show an inverse correlation, that is, a more rigid and negative self-image produces lower performances in both executive and specific memories. Moreover, higher negative self-image is associated with decreased activity in the left ventro-lateral prefrontal and in the anterior cingulate cortex, repeatedly shown to exhibit altered functioning in depression. Activity in these regions, on the contrary, positively correlates with executive and memory performances, in line with their role in executive functions and AM retrieval. These findings suggest that rigid negative self-image could represent a marker or a vulnerability trait of depression by being linked to reduced executive function efficiency and episodic AM decline. These results are encouraging for psychotherapeutic approaches aimed at cognitive flexibility in depression and other psychiatric disorders.
Highlights
Autobiographical memory (AM) is the “long term” memory system involved in the retention and retrieval of personal past events
In line with our hypotheses we reported that participants with a rigid negative self-representation tend to retrieve less detailed memories and show poorer performance on executive scores, in particular on inhibition, verbal fluency, and working memory
The valence and the certainty of self-representation taken alone did not seem to be linked either with executive functions, or with episodic AM (EAM) performance. This result suggests that a negative self-representation accompanied by a flexible cognitive style would not necessarily lead to “depressive-like” cognitive functioning, and that a rigid self schema would not be inadaptative if not centered on negative content
Summary
Autobiographical memory (AM) is the “long term” memory system involved in the retention and retrieval of personal past events. A distinction between episodic AM (EAM) and semantic AM (SAM) has been proposed by several authors (Conway and Pleydell-Pearce, 2000; Conway, 2001; Tulving, 2002; Piolino et al, 2009; Klein and Gangi, 2010) The former refers to memory for unique events situated in time and space and recollected with phenomenological details and a sense of remembering, whereas the latter concerns decontextualized extended or repeated events and self-knowledge such as the name of one’s acquaintances. In depression the “overgenerality” characterizing AM retrieval is accompanied by a particular difficulty in recollecting details, even in the context of specific event retrieval (Lemogne et al, 2006). This lack of specificity has predictive value for the course of depression
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