Memory For Autobiographical Events Research Articles

The effects of prevalence and script information on plausibility, belief, and memory of autobiographical events

SUMMARY Theoretical predictions of a recently proposed ‘nested’ model of factors involved in the creation of false memories for childhood events (general plausibility, personal plausibility, autobiographical belief and autobiographical memory) were tested. Prevalence and/or script-relevant information related to one of two unlikely childhood events was administered to a sample of 92 undergraduate participants. Predictions were (a) that script-knowledge would impact general, but not personal plausibility; and (b) that prevalence information would lead to changes in personal plausibility and to a lesser degree autobiographical belief. Memory ratings should not be affected by these manipulations. Predictions were upheld for plausibility, and were partially upheld for autobiographical belief in one of two target events. New post-manipulation support for the nested model was demonstrated. Implications for the nested model, and the creation of false autobiographical beliefs and memories for childhood events are discussed. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. A growing body of research has demonstrated the many ways in which suggestions that

Older Adults who Overcame Oppression

This article presents the results of a study that examined 24 ethnically diverse older adults’ autobiographical memories of critical life events involving discrimination and oppression. Narrative interviews reveal the impact that such experiences have on individual, family, and societal resilience. The study contributes to the growing body of research literature that allows for a deeper understanding of how a client's particular life story and personal experiences interplay with collective histories. It also discusses how clinicians, including physicians, nurses, and social workers, can benefit from conversations that mutually construct personal narratives that reveal circumstances pertinent to intervention strategies (Cohler & Cole, 1996; Gergen, 1996).

Idiographic autobiographical memories in major depressive disorder

When cued with generic happy and sad words, depressed individuals have been found to articulate contextually impoverished, overgeneral memories of both positive and negative autobiographical events. The current study tested whether overgeneral memory is observed outside of the cue-word paradigm. Currently depressed, formerly depressed, and never-depressed controls underwent an idiographic interview procedure in which participants generated memories of their happiest and saddest lifetime events. Although depressed and nondepressed participants did not differ with respect to the specificity, retrieval difficulty, and emotionality of their saddest memories, depressed individuals' happiest memories were less specific, harder to retrieve, and less emotional than were nondepressed participants' happiest memories. The memory characteristics of formerly depressed participants largely resembled those of healthy controls. Overall, the present results suggest that meaningful cues trigger mood-congruent memory processing in currently, but not in formerly, depressed individuals.

Anterograde and retrograde amnesia in a person with bilateral fornix lesions following removal of a colloid cyst

AD, a 45-year-old man, presented with a severe and global anterograde amnesia following surgery for removal of a colloid cyst. Structural neuroimaging confirmed bilateral lesions to the fornix and a small lesion in the basal forebrain. Testing for remote episodic memory of autobiographical events, and for remote semantic memory of personal and public events, and of famous people, revealed that AD had a severe retrograde amnesia for autobiographical episodes that covered his entire lifetime, and a time-limited retrograde amnesia for semantic memory. Because the fornix and basal forebrain lesions disrupted major afferent and efferent pathways of the hippocampus, it was concluded that the integrity of the hippocampus and its projections are needed to retain and/or recover autobiographical memories no matter how old they are. By contrast, hippocampal contribution to semantic memory is time-limited. These findings were interpreted as consistent with Multiple Trace Theory, which holds that the hippocampal system is essential for recovering contextually rich memories no matter how old they are, but is not needed for recovering semantic memories.

Memories for emotional autobiographical events following unilateral damage to medial temporal lobe

Abnormalities of both memory and emotion have been reported in patients with unilateral damage to the anteromedial temporal lobe, probably reflecting the functions of the amygdala and hippocampus in these processes. Emotion and memory are also known to interact: emotional experiences often leave remarkably durable autobiographical memories. To explore this interaction, and to extend prior studies to the domain of autobiographical memory, we investigated the recollection of real-life emotional events in patients with unilateral damage to the anteromedial temporal lobe. Twenty-three patients who had undergone unilateral temporal lobectomy for the treatment of epilepsy (12 left, 11 right) and 20 healthy comparison participants completed an emotional autobiographical memory test. Participants were asked to recollect their five most emotional memories from any time in their lives and then they completed a word-cued autobiographical memory task. Participants dated each memory and gave ratings on scales of pleasantness, intensity, significance, novelty, vividness and frequency of rehearsal. Left temporal lobectomy (LTL) and healthy comparison groups generated similar numbers of pleasant and unpleasant memories, whereas the right temporal lobectomy (RTL) group produced significantly fewer memories of unpleasant events (P < 0.01). When memories were further categorized according to pleasantness and intensity, the RTL group produced significantly fewer unpleasant/high intensity memories than the other groups (P < 0.01). All groups reported more memories from between the ages of 10 and 30 (the so-called autobiographical memory 'bump'). The results demonstrate a positive bias in the recollection of autobiographical memory following right-sided anteromedial temporal damage. This finding is consistent with the notion that the right, but not the left, anteromedial temporal lobe is involved in the retrieval of negatively valenced, high-intensity memories.

Self‐defining memories in post‐traumatic stress disorder

This study investigated the relationship between trauma survivors' goals and retrieval of self-defining memories in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Civilian trauma survivors with PTSD, trauma survivors with no PTSD and non-trauma-exposed control participants (N = 49) provided autobiographical memories of events that they believe shaped who they are. Participants also provided details about their major personal goals. Participants with PTSD reported more self-defining memories that were trauma-related, negative valence and from adult years than non-PTSD and control participants. Further, retrieval of trauma-related self-defining memories was strongly associated with reporting personal goals that were related to traumatic experiences. These findings are discussed in terms of the proposition that trauma survivors' current concerns may direct retrieval of trauma-related memories.

Retrieval of autobiographical memory in Alzheimer's disease: Relation to volumes of medial temporal lobe and other structures

The representation of autobiographical memory is distributed over a network of brain structures, with the medial temporal lobe (MTL) at its epicenter. Some believe that, over time, all memories become independent of their MTL component ("consolidation theories"). Others have suggested that this is true only of semantic memory, while episodic aspects of autobiographical memories are dependent on the MTL for as long as they exist, such as multiple trace theory (MTT). In the present study, the volumes of 28 brain regions, including the MTL, and their relation to autobiographical memory were investigated in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease with varying degrees of retrograde memory loss as assessed by the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI). We used the multivariate analysis method of partial least squares (PLS) to assess patterns of atrophy that can lead to retrograde amnesia. We found that different aspects of autobiographical memory were associated with different patterns of tissue loss. Personal semantics were related to a pattern of bilateral anterior and posterior lateral temporal cortex degeneration, more pronounced on the left, as well as right frontal degeneration. Autobiographical event memory ("episodic") was associated with combined atrophy in bilateral MTL and anterior lateral temporal neocortex, more pronounced on the right. This pattern was invariant for memories from childhood, early adulthood, and recent memories, in line with the predictions of MTT, suggesting that MTL tissue is crucial for retrieval of episodic memories regardless of their age.

Emotional Intensity of Idiographic Sad Memories in Depression Predicts Symptom Levels 1 Year Later.

When cued with generic happy and sad words, depressed individuals have been found to articulate contextually impoverished memories of autobiographical events. Although this pattern predicts a worse symptomatic course of disorder in some depressed samples, longitudinal findings with the cue-word paradigm are inconsistent. To address the etiological significance of autobiographical memories outside the cue-word paradigm, the authors used an idiographic interview in which depressed participants generated memories of their happiest and saddest lifetime events. Each memory was coded for detail and emotional intensity. At a 1-year follow-up, participants' levels of depressive symptoms were reassessed. Lower emotional intensity of saddest memories predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms at follow-up. Several implications for understanding sadness and emotional disclosure in depression are discussed.

Life Review Therapy Using Autobiographical Retrieval Practice for Older Adults With Depressive Symptomatology.

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of life review based on autobiographical retrieval practice for treating depressed older adults. Forty-three adults aged 65-93 with clinically significant depressive symptomatology and no dementia were randomly assigned to treatment or to no treatment. The results indicated significant differences between experimental and control groups after 4 weeks of autobiographical retrieval practice. At posttest, those in the treatment condition showed fewer depressive symptoms, less hopelessness, improved life satisfaction, and retrieval of more specific events. The findings suggest that practice in autobiographical memory for specific events may be among the components of life review that account for its effectiveness and could be a useful tool in psychotherapy with older adults.

Reactions to and memories for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in adults with posttraumatic stress disorder

AbstractWe examined emotional reactions to and subsequent memory for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in individuals with a history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Surveys were conducted among clients, staff, and visitors of a Veterans Administration Hospital approximately one month and again 10 months after the attacks. As compared to a trauma‐control group matched on age, sex, education, and veteran status, PTSD participants reported being more negatively affected by the attacks in the follow‐up, but not in the initial survey. PTSD and matched trauma control participants were similar in various measures of their initial autobiographical memory and event memory for factual details of the attacks. However, within‐subject comparison revealed significant forgetting over the 9 months in event memory only for the PTSD participants. Furthermore, PTSD participants exhibited a tendency to inflate the emotional aspects of their memory over time. Finally, only in the PTSD group, age was negatively correlated with event memory, suggesting an accelerated memory decline with age associated with PTSD. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

The medial temporal lobe and declarative memory

The hippocampus is part of a system of anatomically related structures in the medial temporal lobe that supports the capacity for conscious recollection (declarative memory). In three studies, we investigated memory functions in amnesic patients with bilateral damage limited primarily to the hippocampal region and in other patients with larger lesions of the medial temporal lobe. The results support three conclusions about the neurological organization of human memory. First, to a limited degree, nondeclarative memory can substitute for declarative memory, but what is learned and stored in memory is substantially different depending on which memory system is used. Second, damage limited primarily to the hippocampal region impairs the learning of new facts (semantic memory), just as such damage impairs the learning of new events (episodic memory). Remote memory for factual knowledge is spared. Third, damage to the medial temporal lobe spares remote memory for autobiographical events (episodic memory).

Autobiographical memory predicts cognitive but not somatic change in sleep apnea patients vulnerable for affective disorder

Background: Autobiographical memory style (AM) can serve as a marker for determining susceptibility for depression. Currently and formerly depressed persons show reduced specific memory for autobiographical events. AM also has proven to be a reliable predictor for the remissive course of depression. Recently the issue arose as to whether this predictive power depends on particular dimensions of depression (cognitive, somatic). Methods: To replicate the predictability in vulnerable patients, we tested two groups of obstructive sleep apnea patients (OSAS) before and 2 months after initiation of nasal continuous positive airway pressure therapy (nCPAP). One group had a history of major depression (vulnerable persons; VUL), and the other group did not (NON-VUL). Sensitivity of AM on the dimensions of depression was assessed through two published versions of the cognitive and somatic subscales of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: There was a significant interaction of Group by AM recall after presentation of positively valenced cues (AM pos) on the cognitive but not on the somatic dimension of the BDI. Only in the VUL did AM pos predict recovery. Limitations: Generalizability to other patient populations awaits further research. Reliability of the vulnerability assessment prior to the OSAS onset was not established. Conclusions: First, our findings further support the trait assumption of AM. Second, the AM methodology suggests sensitivity to only the cognitive dimensions of depression.

Aging affects the engagement of the hippocampus during autobiographical memory retrieval.

Surprisingly little is known about the neural correlates of remembering real life events in the context of normal aging. We therefore asked young and older adults to retrieve real life autobiographical event memories accrued over decades, while their brains were scanned using functional MRI. There were many commonalities between the groups in the wider network of brain areas active during retrieval. Nevertheless, one key difference emerged; while left hippocampal activation was apparent in the young, bilateral hippocampal activation was evident in older adults and direct comparison between the groups confirmed significantly greater right hippocampal activation in older adults. Notably, this difference was specific to autobiographical event memory retrieval, as the groups were comparable in the areas active during semantic memory retrieval. The present findings show that even when stimuli, tasks and performance appear indistinguishable between young and older adults, neural changes occur in aging with specificity in both the memory type and the brain regions affected. In particular, the results reveal that age-related effects are detectable in the hippocampus. This highlights the need to consider how the dynamic course of normal aging interacts with pathological processes that might also affect the hippocampus. Understanding this relationship may aid prognosis, as well as providing insights into plasticity in the anatomy of memory.

Tunnel memories for autobiographical events: central details are remembered more frequently from shocking than from happy experiences.

In three experiments, undergraduates recorded as many details as possible for autobiographical memories of highly positive and highly negative events in their lives. Experiment 1 replicated earlier findings for memories of highly negative events: Central details were recorded more frequently than peripheral details, and a weak correlation was found between emotional intensity and number of central details. In Experiment 2, undergraduates recorded details of memories of both their happiest and their most shocking events. Central details dominated over peripheral details only in memories of shocking events. This finding was replicated in Experiment 3. Recording memory details affected the participants' moods and generated a mood congruence effect in a subsequent recall of word-cued memories. The finding suggest that tunnel memories--enhanced memory for the central details of an event--are limited to emotionally negative memories. The findings contradict expectations derived from the notion of repression.

Children’s long-term memory for autobiographical events

Autobiographical memories not only capture our past, they also help define who we are. In this article, the origins of children’s autobiographical memories are first traced, considering both research on infantile amnesia (which shows limited memory for early life events) as well as the perspective emerging from studies of young children’s memory skills (which shows surprisingly long-term memory competence by 1- and 2-year-olds). The review then focuses on empirical investigations of children’s long-term memory for autobiographical events, dividing studies into those that investigated delays of 1–2 years from those assessing memory after at least 4 years. Although some studies show substantial memory decrements with increased delays, a few studies have documented remarkably robust recall after a number of years. Factors that might contribute to the long-term retention of some events are briefly considered, and implications are drawn for relevant questions that the courts are asking about children’s memory abilities.

Interrogative Suggestibility, Memory and Intellectual Disability

Background Psychologists are often asked to prepare reports on suspects, complainants and witnesses with intellectual disabilities for court. Increasingly, the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales are being used as part of the assessment process. This paper critically examines the use of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales with adults with intellectual disabilities and considers alternative explanations for test data.Argument It is argued that the scales have been developed in a way that significantly disadvantages people with intellectual disabilities compared with those of average ability. The scales are more likely to elicit acquiescent responses from people with intellectual disabilities as participants are questioned on information they can barely recall. Drawing on models of memory developed in the field of cognitive neuroscience, it is argued that this is a consequence of examining unimodal input into semantic memory, which is impaired in people with intellectual disabilities. Police interviews are rarely concerned with semantic memory alone but with autobiographical event memory of multimodal input. Research on people with intellectual disabilities' event memory shows higher levels of accuracy, less of a tendency to acquiesce and greater resistance to suggestion.Conclusions Currently, the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales are the only tests available for the assessment of interrogative suggestibility. However, psychologists using these scales with adults with intellectual disabilities should do so with caution as their validity is questionable. Studies of intellectually disabled adults' autobiographical event memory show that they can provide reasonably accurate accounts of events and resist questions designed to alter their account.

Memory for autobiographical facts and events: a comparison of women reporting childhood sexual abuse and non‐abused controls

AbstractAlthough there is evidence that many adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) have a period when they forget their abuse, existing research is equivocal about whether such individuals show other autobiographical memory impairments. The present study addressed some of the sampling and measurement problems apparent in previous studies and compared 74 women reporting a history of CSA with 60 non‐abused controls on their ability to recall facts and events from childhood. The results showed that the CSA group did not differ from the controls in the quality of their memories for autobiographical incidents. However, they were significantly less able than controls to recall specific facts about their personal history, such as significant addresses and names of significant individuals, after controlling for educational level, depression and childhood address changes. CSA group participants reporting a period of abuse forgetting appeared more impaired than those with continuous abuse memories in their recall of personal semantic facts, but were similar in their recall of autobiographical incidents. The findings suggest that experiencing a period of abuse forgetting is a more influential factor in predicting the ability to recall personal semantic facts than abuse status alone. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Neuroimaging studies of autobiographical event memory.

Commonalities and differences in findings across neuroimaging studies of autobiographical event memory are reviewed. In general terms, the overall pattern across studies is of medial and left-lateralized activations associated with retrieval of autobiographical event memories. It seems that the medial frontal cortex and left hippocampus in particular are responsive to such memories. However, there are also inconsistencies across studies, for example in the activation of the hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. It is likely that methodological differences between studies contribute to the disparate findings. Quantifying and assessing autobiographical event memories presents a challenge in many domains, including neuroimaging. Methodological factors that may be pertinent to the interpretation of the neuroimaging data and the design of future experiments are discussed. Consideration is also given to aspects of memory that functional neuroimaging might be uniquely disposed to examine. These include assessing the functionality of damaged tissue in patients and the estimation of inter-regional communication (effective connectivity) between relevant brain regions.

The effects of bilateral hippocampal damage on fMRI regional activations and interactions during memory retrieval.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we examined successful retrieval of real-world memories in a patient (Jon) with selective bilateral hippocampal pathology resulting from perinatal hypoxia compared with healthy control subjects. Jon activated the same brain regions during memory retrieval as control subjects, both medial and lateral on the left. In contrast to controls, Jon also activated many homologous regions on the right. In spite of having 50% volume loss bilaterally in his hippocampi, retrieval in Jon was associated with increased activation of the hippocampi. Furthermore, hippocampal activity, as with the controls, was differential, being most responsive to retrieval of autobiographical events compared with other memory types (autobiographical facts, public events, general knowledge). Jon made a distinction between events that the control subjects did not make, namely that some of the autobiographical and public events he clearly remembered, while others he found that he knew about but did not truly remember. His hippocampi and medial frontal cortex were significantly more active during retrieval of events for which he had clear and conscious recollection compared with those he knew as much about, including the context, but could not remember experiencing. Although Jon activates the same network of brain regions as the controls (albeit bilaterally), and with the same pattern of response in the hippocampus, the communication between regions differs from controls with regard to hippocampal-cortical connectivity. In controls there was increased effective connectivity between parahippocampal cortex and hippocampus, specifically during the retrieval of autobiographical events. In contrast, this increase was not apparent in Jon; rather, retrieval of autobiographical events elicited greater interaction between the hippocampus and retrosplenial cortex, and also increased interaction between retrosplenial and medial frontal cortex. This study underlines the value of scanning patients using fMRI while they undertake tasks they can perform, in this case allowing us to confirm the functionality of remaining tissue in the damaged hippocampi, and to appreciate the neural basis of a distinction (remember/know) that control subjects do not make. Besides refining our knowledge of the hippocampal role in autobiographical event memory, this study indicates that recruitment of bilateral regions during memory retrieval, and altered patterns of effective connectivity between brain regions may be important indicators of disordered memory.

The Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Memory of Autobiographical and Public Events

Retrograde amnesia is the most persistent cognitive adverse effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT); however, it is not known whether ECT has differential effects on autobiographical vs impersonal memories. This study examined the short- and long-term effects of differing forms of ECT on memory of personal and impersonal (public) events. Fifty-five patients with major depression were randomly assigned to right unilateral (RUL) or bilateral (BL) ECT, each at either low or high electrical dosage. The Personal and Impersonal Memory Test was administered by blinded raters at baseline, during the week after ECT, and at the 2-month follow-up. Normal controls were tested at matched intervals. Shortly after ECT, patients recalled fewer events and event details than controls, with the deficits most marked for impersonal compared with personal events. Bilateral ECT caused more marked amnesia for events and details than RUL ECT, and especially for impersonal memories. These effects were independent of electrical dosage and clinical outcome. At the 2-month follow-up, patients had reduced retrograde amnesia, but continued to show deficits in recalling the occurrence of impersonal events and the details of recent impersonal events. The amnestic effects of ECT are greatest and most persistent for knowledge about the world (impersonal memory,) compared with knowledge about the self (personal memory), for recent compared with distinctly remote events, and for less salient events. Bilateral ECT produces more profound amnestic effects than RUL ECT, particularly for memory of impersonal events.