Autobiographical Memory Research Articles

Can Time Heal Anything? Exposure to Traumatic Events, Autobiographical Memory, and the Quality of Life Among Older Adults: The Role of Time Perspective.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between autobiographical memory, exposure to traumatic events, and quality of life, in a group of elderly people. Method: The study was conducted using a sample of 362 participants (Mage = 68.35, SD = 6.67; 65.5% women and 34.5% men). They completed the questionnaires to measure quality of life, exposure to traumatic events, autobiographical memory, and time perspective. Results: Direct exposure to major traumatic life events negatively predicted quality of life, while autobiographical memory was not a predictor for quality of life. Time perspective mediated the relationship between exposure to traumatic life events, autobiographical memory, and quality of life. Discussion: How people manage their lives after exposure to traumatic events should be of particular interest to society as a whole and it is necessary to take into account various factors related to quality of life, especially in the case of elderly people.

Memory and motivation in language revitalization practice

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between collective memory and individual second‐language (L2) learning motivation as articulated in a qualitative research study with language revitalization practitioners. These practitioners learn and teach their languages and engage in other activities in order to bring Indigenous or ancestral languages into new use following a period of loss. In this study, 28 revitalization practitioners from eight language communities were interviewed about why they choose to learn their languages, what challenges they face, and what supports them in their practice. Interviews were first analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and were subsequently analyzed deductively to engage with research on the functions of autobiographical memory. Findings show how collective memories are made salient in the language revitalization experience, how individuals grapple with painful memories of what their communities and families endured as a result of colonization, and how these collective memories impact individual L2 motivation. These findings illustrate the importance of collective memory in theorizing L2 motivation in order to enhance understanding of context, dismantle overly individualistic interpretations of L2 motivation models, and open avenues for critically engaging with historical trauma and resistance.

Individual differences in music-evoked autobiographical memories

Music is increasingly used as a cue for autobiographical memories in psychological research and clinical interventions. Despite the burgeoning body of evidence on the phenomenology of music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs), few previous studies have focused in detail on how the capacities and experiences of individual listeners impact features of MEAMs. The present work examined the relationship of individual differences in visual and auditory imagery, musical familiarity and engagement, musical reward sensitivity, musical training, and gender to MEAM features. Participants ( N = 304, ages 18–25 years, 156 female) completed a self-selected MEAM task, in which they described an autobiographical memory they often associate with a piece of music of their choice, and a cued MEAM task, in which they described and rated autobiographical memories evoked by 16 chart-topping pop songs, alongside a series of questionnaires assessing individual differences in mental imagery and musical behaviors. In the cued MEAM task, memories elicited by more familiar songs were more frequent, more vivid, and more positive, whilst general engagement with pop music also positively impacted the vividness and emotionality of these memories. The amount of visual imagery within MEAMs was positively related to individual capacities to generate vivid visual and auditory imagery, and higher scores in musical reward sensitivity were associated with greater emotional intensity of MEAMs. Formal musical training did not predict any MEAM features. Results are discussed in relation to how such findings can maximize the efficacy and rigor of experiments and interventions that use music as an autobiographical memory cue.

23.16 : Iteração da identidade através da arte e da tecnologia

In this paper, I will reflect on “23.16”, a research project that delves into autobiographical memory, technology, and installation art, developed during the Master’s in Fine Arts at FBAUP. This investigation intersects with the conference’s focus on the arts and memory. Anchoring my methodology in autoethnography, I manipulate personal materials—sound and memory—employing a strategy of transfer and iteration within a network of devices. This creates a mise-en-abîme that bridges various artistic languages and forms. The work embodies a living inquiry into Judith Butler’s narrative of self as articulated in “Giving an Account of Oneself,” scrutinizing the iterative process of self-narrative and the persistent metamorphosis of identity. The project is further informed by Paul B. Preciado’s reflections on the imbrication of technology and identity, alongside Gilbert Simondon’s notions of transduction and perpetual becoming. The philosophical paradox of Theseus’ ship serves as a conceptual metaphor within my work, posing inquiries about identity’s endurance and transformation. This metaphor extends to challenge the identity of the project itself, questioning whether it retains the essence of a singular work despite the continuous substitution of auditory and visual forms. The project materializes in multimedia installations that, emanating from the same auditory roots, conjure seemingly dystopian versions of reality and memory. The installations are a testament to the performative nature of memory and the cinematic transformation of sound into image, and subsequently, into moving images. In dialogue, I aim to reflect on the generative possibilities of this experimental process—how the critical discourse may contribute to the research’s evolution.

The Tapestry of Remembered Lives: Autobiographical Memory and Collective Experiences in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

The Tapestry of Remembered Lives: Autobiographical Memory and Collective Experiences in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Forensic, clinical and everyday remembering: Exploring the role of perceived audience in changes across autobiographical memory recollections

Contradictions and other changes across recollections are interpreted negatively in some settings. This may be problematic because who we share our memories with may affect what we recollect. In our research, we used a retelling paradigm for autobiographical memory to investigate how perceived audience influences consistency of repeated personal memory accounts. Participants free-recalled memories of four autobiographical events either to an imagined police officer, psychologist or friend. One week later, they recalled the same events again to the same imagined audience. Memory accounts changed across recollections, with most participants making omissions, additions and contradictions. Some changes varied across conditions. Participants in the friend condition were least consistent in amount of information provided. Participants in the police officer condition contradicted themselves on details about people present. However, overall audience context did not reliably influence consistency of accounts, rather changes were common. Findings broaden our understanding of social influence on autobiographical memory.

Exploring the Development of Past and Future Episodic Memory in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Longitudinal Study

Adolescence is a critical period where individuals build their identity and consolidate how they interact with others. However, for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the development of identity and social bounds is at stake. These challenges with the development of identity and social bonds could be linked to difficulties in autobiographical memory (AM), whether recalling past events (past episodic memory; past EM) or imagining future scenarios (episodic future thinking; EFT). To date, developmental patterns of AM over time remain poorly understood in ASD. Eleven adolescents with ASD or typical development (TD) completed an assessment of past EM and EFT once per year for three years. Preliminary results show that past EM becomes more detailed over the years for adolescents with ASD, while there is no change for TD adolescents. Interestingly, only the content elements of the narrated events are increasing, not the context elements. Furthermore, EFT evolves in the TD group but remains stable in the ASD group. This first multi-case longitudinal study of AM needs to be replicated with more participants, but it seems to indicate a heterogeneous evolution of AM in ASD. For future studies, these results will lead us to explore the hypothesis of developmental delay and the factors influencing AM development in ASD. Finally, understanding these developmental pathways highlights the importance of personalized therapeutic approaches to support social integration, identity construction, and future projects for adolescents with ASD.

Comparing the Neurocognitive Effects of Right-Unilateral Ultra-Brief Pulse Electroconvulsive Therapy and Magnetic Seizure Therapy for the Treatment of Major Depressive Episode

Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is under investigation as a treatment for adults with major depression. Prior research suggested that MST has comparable antidepressant efficacy with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but with greater cognitive safety. The objective of the study was to compare the neurocognitive outcomes of patients receiving an acute course of MST with those receiving ECT for the treatment of major depressive episode. This was a between-subject, double-masked, randomized, multi-center clinical trial. Seventy-three participants with a severe major depressive episode were enrolled and randomly assigned to treatment with MST (N = 38) or ultra-brief pulse right unilateral ECT (N = 35). The main outcomes were change in performance from baseline to end of acute treatment on multiple neurocognitive measures. Patients receiving MST, relative to those receiving ECT, had superior cognitive outcomes up to 72-hours post-treatment. Specifically, following MST treatment, there was significant improvement in fine motor dexterity (p=0.017) and no significant change in cognitive domains of attention, verbal fluency, executive function, and verbal learning and memory. In contrast, following treatment with ECT, patients demonstrated significantly worsened performance on measures of verbal fluency (p<0.001), executive function (p=0.038), and verbal memory retention (p<0.001). Autobiographical memory consistency significantly decreased following treatment with both ECT (p<0.001) and MST, though the magnitude of change was greater for ECT. The study findings confirm prior work and provide new evidence supporting the enhanced cognitive safety of MST relative to ECT. Future research is warranted on MST to optimize its application in individuals across the lifespan with neuropsychiatric illnesses. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00488748.

On the role of familiarity and developmental exposure in music-evoked autobiographical memories

ABSTRACT Music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) are typically elicited by music that listeners have heard before. While studies that have directly manipulated music familiarity show that familiar music evokes more MEAMs than music listeners have not heard before, music that is unfamiliar to the listener can also sporadically cue autobiographical memory. Here we examined whether music that sounds familiar even without previous exposure can produce spontaneous MEAMs. Cognitively healthy older adults (N = 75, ages 65–80 years) listened to music clips that were chosen by researchers to be either familiar or unfamiliar (i.e., varying by prior exposure). Participants then disclosed whether the clip elicited a MEAM and later provided self-reported familiarity ratings for each. Self-reported familiarity was positively associated with the occurrence of MEAMs in response to familiar, but not the unfamiliar, music. The likelihood of reporting MEAMs for music released during youth (i.e., the “reminiscence bump”) relative to young adulthood (20–25 years) included both music released during participants’ adolescence (14–18 years) and middle childhood (5–9 years) once self-reported familiarity was accounted for. These developmental effects could not be accounted for by music-evoked affect. Overall, our results suggest that the phenomenon of MEAMs hinges upon both perceptions of familiarity and prior exposure.

Effects of a digital self-efficacy training in stressed university students: A randomized controlled trial.

Self-efficacy is associated with positive mental health outcomes. We developed and tested a digital self-efficacy training for daily recall of autobiographical self-efficacy memories (e.g., memories of successfully overcoming a personal challenge). In this randomized controlled trial, we investigated the effects of the week-long digital self-efficacy training on key mental health outcomes, including anxiety, stress, and hopelessness, and on self-efficacy in 93 university students (mean age 23.3 years, SD: 3.49) with elevated self-reported stress levels. Participants completed either the self-efficacy training combined with ecological momentary assessment (EMA) (training group) or EMA only (control group). We found significantly reduced hopelessness and trait anxiety in the training group compared to the control group at post-assessment (one day post intervention). Effects on ratings of self-efficacy at post-assessment were also significant when controlling for baseline self-efficacy. This stand-alone digital self-efficacy training was significantly associated with a number of positive effects on outcomes compared to a control condition, including reduced hopelessness, trait anxiety, and increased self-efficacy. Future work is needed to replicate and investigate the long-term effects of the training and explore its implementation in clinical populations. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05617248.

Decoding episodic autobiographical memory in naturalistic virtual reality

Episodic autobiographical memory (EAM) is a long-term memory system of personally experienced events with their context – what, where, when – and subjective elements, e.g., emotions, thoughts, or self-reference. EAM formation has rarely been studied in a controlled, real-life-like paradigm, and there is no predictive model of long-term retrieval from self-rated subjective experience at encoding. The present longitudinal study, with three surprise free recall memory tests immediately, one-week and one-month after encoding, investigated incidental encoding of EAM in an immersive virtual environment where 30 participants either interacted with or observed specific events of varying emotional valences with simultaneous physiological recordings. The predictive analyses highlight the temporal dynamics of the predictors of EAM from subjective ratings at encoding: common characteristics related to sense of remembering and infrequency of real-life encounter of the event were identified over time, but different variables become relevant at different time points, such as the emotion and mental imagery or prospective aspects. This dynamic and time-dependent role of memory predictors challenges traditional views of a uniform influence of encoding factors over time. Current evidence for the multiphasic nature of memory formation points to the role of different mechanisms at play during encoding but also consolidation and subsequent retrieval.

Comusichiamo. First Language, Life-Soundtracks and Storytelling to Support the Cultural Wellbeing of Migrants Living with Dementia

ABSTRACT This study, located at the intersection of anthropology, ageing, music therapy and dementia, explores the value of music, life-storytelling and first language, to support the cultural identity and wellbeing of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds living with dementia in Australia. It uses participant observation, the collection of oral histories and ‘life soundtracks’ to co-create a song with older Italian migrants and their families. This paper presents the first case study which informed the development of the music engagement program we call Comusichiamo (let’s make music together). The case study shows that the co-creation of a culturally tailored song, composed and sung in first language, can enhance physical and social engagement, and contribute to the general wellbeing of participants living with dementia, and their carers. Central to the program is the sharing of life history, comprising autobiographic memory, the use of ipsissima verba, the precise words participants employ repeatedly, and ipsissima fabula, the particularistic stories participants narrate frequently. This music engagement program supports a relationship-centred approach to dementia care, drawing on narrative theory and anthropological notions of personhood, and Benenzon’s notion of ‘sound identity’, to support cultural safety, protect personhood, and guard against ‘social death’.

Different dorsolateral prefrontal activation during an emotionalautobiographical memory task between male and female depressed individuals: a fNIRS study.

Depression in male and female are commonly associated with different prevalence, severity, and, in some cases, distinct syndromes or subtypes. However, only a small amount of research has been conducted to completely understand the underlying neuroanatomical mechanisms. The goal of the current study was to provide neural markers for specific depression therapies by demonstrating the differences in aberrant prefrontal activity between male and female depressed subjects during an emotional autobiographical memory test. The study included 127 young adults who were randomly assigned to one of two groups: male depression (62 participants) or female depression (65 participants). The average oxyhemoglobin levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex throughout the emotional autobiographical memory task were assessed utilizing 53-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy imaging equipment. The oxy-Hb activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) had no significant interaction between groups and emotional valences. A significant main effect was found between male and female, with female depression groups showing lower oxy-Hb activity in lDLPFC and rDLPFC than male depression groups. Male and female depression patients showed distinct brain activation in the DLPFC during an emotional autobiographical memory test, suggesting potential specific neurological indicators for varied somatic symptoms in male and female depression patients. These distinctions should be taken into account while creating preventive measures.

The retrieval of neutral and positive autobiographical memories: a pilot study

Background Several studies have shown that the retrieval of positive memories may play a role in emotional regulation. However, it is unclear whether the effects of neutral and positive autobiographical memories differ. It is necessary to confirm whether genuinely neutral autobiographical memories can be retrieved without bias when prompted to recall neutral memories. Methods In this pilot study, using “home” and “study” as cue words, we investigated whether participants were able to retrieve appropriate autobiographical memories when asked to recall a limited number of neutral or positive memories. Results Although participants were asked to recall neutral autobiographical memories, they tended to recall positive memories. Conclusions Our results support the concept of positive memory bias and suggest that future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories by asking participants to recall neutral–positive memories.

Contextual memory bias in emotional events: Neurobiological correlates and depression risk

BackgroundContextual memory loss of emotional events plays a critical role in depression psychopathology. Individuals with depression, clinical or subclinical, exhibit enhanced and impaired memory for emotionally negative stimuli and context in an event, respectively. This suggests that contextual encoding may fail because of attentional interference caused by concurrent negative stimuli, possibly leading to contextual memory loss as a depression risk. Amygdala–prefrontal connectivity and cortisol may underlie the mechanism; however, the relationships remain unknown. MethodsOne hundred twenty participants, including 34 with subclinical depression, underwent behavioral tasks, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, and saliva collection. Encoding and 24 h later recollection performance of visuoperceptual/spatial/temporal context in a series of events, where fearful (vs. neutral) faces appeared, were measured via contextual memory tasks. Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM), a more remote form of contextual memory loss, was also assessed via the Autobiographical Memory Test. Amygdala connectivity was measured by fMRI during attentional interference by fearful (vs. neutral) faces to differentiate selective attention from encoding. Basal cortisol levels were assayed through saliva collected at encoding during the visit day and across 2 consecutive days in the following week (12 time points in total). We explored whether contextual memory encoding failure would explain depressive symptoms through OGM under possible moderation of amygdala connectivity and cortisol. ResultsIn individuals with subclinical depression compared to those without, fearful faces disturbed memory encoding of the visuoperceptual context rather than 24 h later recollection, while neutral faces in their temporal proximity contrastingly augmented it. The more the contextual memory encoding bias (fearful vs. neutral) intensified, the more the amygdala’s functional connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) weakened. Higher total cortisol output tended to be correlated with poorer 24-h later recollection of the temporal context. Moderated mediation effects of the amygdala-vmPFC connectivity and cortisol were not significant; however, contextual encoding bias explained depressive symptoms through negatively valenced OGM. ConclusionsNegative stimuli appearing in an event might impair memory encoding of the visuoperceptual context under attentional interference, represented as weakened amygdala-vmPFC connectivity implicated in emotion-related attentional dysregulation. Conversely, negative stimuli might enhance temporally proximal visuoperceptual encoding after their disappearance. Contextual encoding bias could explain the overgeneralization (or lower coherence) of autobiographical memory and increase the risk of depression. The possible role of cortisol in recollecting the context of emotional events over time warrants further investigation.

Delineating the neural substrates of autobiographical memory impairment in Huntington's disease.

Emerging evidence suggests that autobiographical memory (ABM) is altered in Huntington's disease (HD). While these impairments are typically attributed to frontostriatal dysfunction, the neural substrates of ABM impairment in HD remain unexplored. To this end, we assessed ABM in 30 participants with genetically confirmed HD (18 premanifest, 12 manifest) and 24 age-matched healthy controls. Participants completed the Autobiographical Interview to assess free and probed ABM recall and underwent structural brain imaging. Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to explore voxel-wise associations between ABM performance and grey matter intensity (False Discovery Rate corrected at q= 0.05). Relative to controls, HD participants displayed significantly less detailed ABM retrieval across free and probed recall conditions, irrespective of disease stage. Recall performance did not differ significantly between manifest and premanifest HD groups. VBM analyses indicated that poorer ABM performance was associated with atrophy of a distributed cortico-subcortical network. Key regions implicated irrespective of ABM condition included the bilateral occipital cortex, left precuneus, right parahippocampal gyrus and right caudate nucleus. In addition, probed ABM recall was associated with the superior and inferior frontal gyri, frontal pole, right hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, paracingulate gyrus and cerebellum. Overall, our findings indicate that ABM impairments in HD reflect the progressive degeneration of a distributed cortico-subcortical brain network comprising medial temporal, frontal, striatal and posterior parietal cortices. Our findings advance our understanding of the neurocognitive profile of HD, providing an important foundation for future interventions to support memory function in this population.

Shape of the past: Revealing detail arcs while narrating memories of autobiographical life events across the lifespan.

Humans can remember past autobiographical events through extended narratives. How these narrated memories typically unfold, however, remains largely unexplored. We evaluated how autobiographical memory details typically come together in a sample of 235 healthy young, middle-aged, and older adults. We found that details providing background knowledge followed a U shape, such that they were most prevalent in the initial moments of remembering before falling and then rising near the conclusion of the memory's retelling. Details about the scene of the memory declined over time, whereas other event-specific, unique details about the main features of the event followed an inverted U shape, peaking around the midpoint of a remembered event's narration. Whereas most detail arcs were not significantly affected by older age, older adults showed a significant underuse of details describing the scene early in memory retrieval. Our findings suggest that behind the ability to narrate the remembered past is a normative waxing and waning of the details that make autobiographical memories.

Self-Concept in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease Is Affected on Tests of Self-Generated Statements.

Several studies show that Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurocognitive disorders have a negative impact on the self and identity formation. Most studies have included persons with mild to moderate dementia, but how AD patients in the earliest phases retrieve information about themselves has only been studied scarcely. The aim of this study was to investigate if persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild AD would generate fewer self-related statements than healthy controls. From a memory clinic, we included 17 aMCI patients, 17 patients with mild dementia (AD; MMSE ≥ 24), and 30 healthy controls. Three Events Test and Twenty Statements Test (TST) were applied to all participants. The persons with mild dementia gave significantly fewer statements compared to the controls (p < 0.001) and the aMCI patients (p < 0.01) on TST. Fewer statements were also produced by the aMCI patients compared to the control participants (p < 0.05). Persons from both patient groups produced significantly fewer contextual details compared to the controls on the Three Events Tests. There were significant associations to lexical fluency for both the TST and Three Events Test, but only a limited amount of variance was explained, and the results cannot be explained solely by a fluency effect. The results from this study are in accordance with findings from previous studies demonstrating that mild AD leads to a decline in both autobiographical memories and a diminished sense of self. Further, this study shows that changes in self-concept may occur even in the earliest clinical stages of AD.

Pictures in our heads: Politics of space, time, and memory in Polish virtual reality storyworlds

This article examines the entangled politics of space, time and memory in the virtual realm of extended reality (XR). The illiberal right-wing Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) has been investing in the creation and dissemination of virtual reality (VR) content centred on historical themes since 2018. By mapping out the experiential geography of populism in virtual places, the article aims to identify the main features of this new immersive mode of politics. The article argues three main points on space, time, and memory: (1) in VR, places are storylived spaces that are conceived and designed by their creators to elicit a specific sense of place, accompanied by specific emotions and thoughts; (2) from an experiential point of view, the past does not exist in VR, only the virtual present, turning VR into a contemporary technology of myth-making and myth-living; (3) since VR experiences become integrated into the autobiographical memory, VR is a technology that shapes the self. In effect, VR storyworlds establish places for the embodied rehearsal of cultural memory narratives.

Autobiographical Memory Functions of Tattoo Event Memories

ABSTRACT Autobiographical memories are known to possess two features: they are tied to memory objects such as photos, diaries, or music, and they serve three main functions: the self, social, and directive function. The self-function uses memories for the sense of self-continuity, the social function uses memories for social bonds, and the directive function uses memories for future guidance. Although autobiographical memories are known to serve these functions and to be allied with memory objects, research has yet to merge these two features. Therefore, this study investigated the memory functions of tattoo event memories, designating memories of life events that motivated tattooing and are hence perpetuated in the form of permanent embodied memory objects, the tattoos. We analyzed the tattoo event narratives of 20 adults for autobiographical memory functions. Results indicate that tattoo event memories serve the three memory functions to a similar extent as autobiographical memories in the previous research. Overall, our study suggests a broader view on autobiographical memory functions by linking them to memory objects.