Abstract
Episodic memory impairments seem to play a crucial role in schizophrenia. Most of the studies that have demonstrated such a deficit have used neutral material, leaving the recollection of emotional memories in schizophrenia unexplored. An overview is presented of a series of studies investigating the influence of emotion on episodic and autobiographical memory in schizophrenia. These experiments share a common experimental approach in which states of awareness accompanying recollection are considered. Results show that schizophrenia impairs conscious recollection in episodic and autobiographical memory tasks using emotional material. Schizophrenia is also associated with a reduction of the specificity with which autobiographical memories are recalled. An hypothesis in terms of a fundamental executive deficit underlying these impairments is proposed.
Highlights
According to Tulving (1985), the main characteristic of episodic memory is its dependence on autonoetic awareness, i.e., the kind of awareness that is experienced by normal individuals who consciously recollect events by reliving them mentally
In a recognition task that is conducted some time after the completion of a learning session, participants are instructed to report their subjective state of awareness as they recognise each item
Because schizophrenia is associated with large emotional disturbances, which dramatically interfere with behaviour control and social interaction, (Taylor & Liberzon, 1999), an important question pertains to how emotion and episodic memory interact in schizophrenia
Summary
According to Tulving (1985), the main characteristic of episodic memory is its dependence on autonoetic awareness, i.e., the kind of awareness that is experienced by normal individuals who consciously recollect events by reliving them mentally. Participants have to give a “Guess” response if they neither consciously recollect nor know, but just guess that the item was on the study list Using this procedure, a series of studies has demonstrated that, compared to control participants, the recognition performance of patients with schizophrenia is associated with lower levels of Remember, but not of Know responses (Danion, Rizzo, & Bruant, 1999; Huron & Danion, 2002; Huron et al, 1995; Sonntag et al, 2003). A series of studies has demonstrated that, compared to control participants, the recognition performance of patients with schizophrenia is associated with lower levels of Remember, but not of Know responses (Danion, Rizzo, & Bruant, 1999; Huron & Danion, 2002; Huron et al, 1995; Sonntag et al, 2003) This indicates that schizophrenia impairs episodic memory in its critical feature, autonoetic awareness, whereas noetic awareness is spared. In three consecutive studies, Ochsner has demonstrated that Remember, but not Know responses were more frequent for emotional than for neutral events, underlining the importance of the ability to consciously reexperience an emotional event during its recall
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