Autobiographical Memory Impairment Research Articles

Autobiographical Memory in Children with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Autobiographical memory involves the recall of personal facts (semantic memory) and re-experiencing of specific personal events (episodic memory). Although impairments in autobiographical memory have been found in adults with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and attributed to compromised hippocampal integrity, it is not yet known whether this occurs in children with TLE. In the current study, 21 children with TLE and 24 healthy controls of comparable age, sex, and socioeconomic status were administered the Children's Autobiographical Interview. Compared to controls, children with TLE recalled fewer episodic details, but only when no retrieval prompts were provided. There was no difference between the groups for semantic autobiographic details. Interestingly, the number of episodic details recalled increased significantly from 6 to 16 years of age in healthy control children, but not in children with TLE. Exploratory analyses revealed that, within the group of children with TLE, epilepsy factors, including presence or absence of structural hippocampal abnormalities, did not relate to the richness of episodic recall. Our results provide first evidence of autobiographical episodic memory deficits in children with TLE.

Autobiographical Memory, Mental Disorders, and Emotional Valence: Comment on Young, et al. (2012)

Young, Erickson, and Drevets (2012) reported that positive and neutral cue words elicited less positive memories among patients with major depression than among healthy controls, while memories from patients were less specific than those from controls, regardless of their intrinsic valence. These results suggested methodological refinements that may shed light on several aspects of autobiographical memory impairment in mental disorders.

Neuropsychological predictors of autobiographical memory impairment in mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Neuropsychological predictors of autobiographical memory impairment in mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Altérations cognitives et plaintes mnésiques lors d’un traitement par électroconvulsivothérapie : revue de la littérature

ObjectivesElectroconvulsive treatment (ECT) is an efficient treatment of depression, mania or acute episode of schizophrenia. However, ECT can lead to several side effects, particularly regarding cognitive functioning. Neuropsychological tests show that memory impairment is the most common cognitive disturbance. Memory impairments are also self-reported by 29 % to 55 % of patients treated with ECT. The subjective perception of memory impairment belongs to the field of metacognition (or, in this case, metamemory). Metacognition is indeed defined as monitoring and control of its own cognitive processes, and can be evaluated during or after cognitive task (on line or off line). The subjective perception of memory impairment after ECT treatment has been scarcely explored in the literature. The aims of this review of the literature are to describe the “objectives” characteristics of memory impairment, the “subjective” characteristics of memory complaints observed after treatment with ECT, and the relationships that exist between objective and subjective memory impairment. MethodsThis review is based on a selection of articles identified using PubMed. Three exhaustive literature searches of Medline databases between years 1970 and 2012 were performed. The first search used the words “Electroconvulsive therapy” and “Anterograde Memory Loss” from the Medical Subject Headings or MESH (41 articles). The second search used the MESH words “Electroconvulsive therapy” and “Retrograde Amnesia” (103 articles). The third search used the MESH words “Electroconvulsive therapy” and the words “Subjective Memory” not listed in the MESH (29 articles). Titles and abstracts of literature review or meta-analysis in English and French were carefully screened. Regarding “objective” memory impairment, only studies comparing neuropsychological tests assessing memory conducted before and after treatment with curative ECT were selected. Regarding “subjective” memory impairment, only studies assessing memory complaints were selected. A selection of 29 relevant articles was carried out. ResultsThe only “objective” long-term cognitive impairment observed after treatment with ECT is retrograde autobiographical memory impairment. Anterograde memory performances (learning, episodic and visuospatial memory) are disrupted in the short-term period following ECT, but no longer several months later. Three self-administered questionnaires assessing “subjective” memory complaints are available: Cognitive Failure Questionnaire or CFQ (assessing perceived learning, attention and memory functions), Squire Subjective Memory Questionnaire or SSMQ (evaluating perceived specific memory functions) and Global Self-Evaluation-Memory or GSE-My (evaluating perceived global memory impairment). After ECT treatment, improvement in the CFQ scores and SSMQ (less memory complaints) is observed. However, scores at GSE-My are significantly lower after treatment, suggesting that subjects rate their global memory functioning as impaired by ECT. “Subjective” memory complaints are correlated with “objective” memory impairment, when complaints are globally assessed using the GSE-My. ConclusionThe fact that there is no long-term cognitive impairment after treatment with ECT is an important information that must be shared within the healthcare team and the patients in order to improve adhesion to ECT. Few studies have investigated subjective complaints, and no study has evaluated metacognitive skills during the cognitive task. It might be of interest to explore subjective memory changes after ECT by using on line metacognitive skills evaluation.

Episodic future thinking is impaired in the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia

Remembering the past and imagining the future are complex endeavours proposed to rely on a core neurobiological brain system. In the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), regional patterns of brain atrophy affect medial prefrontal and temporal cortices of this core network. While autobiographical memory impairments have been documented in bvFTD, it remains unknown whether the ability to imagine future events is also compromised. Here, we investigated episodic future thinking in 10 bvFTD patients and contrasted their performance with Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 10) and healthy matched Control (n = 10) participants. Participants were asked to remember 3 events from the previous year and to envisage 3 possible events that could occur in the next year. Both patient groups showed equivalent episodic detail performance for the retrieval of past events and the simulation of possible future episodes. Patients with bvFTD, however, showed additional impairments for the generation of external (non-episodic) details irrespective of condition. Voxel-based morphometry analyses revealed divergent neural correlates of episodic past and future thinking performance specific to each patient group. Atrophy in the posterior cingulate cortex was implicated in the disruption of past and future thinking in AD. In contrast, in bvFTD, disruption of past retrieval correlated with atrophy in medial prefrontal regions, whereas future thinking deficits were associated with atrophy of frontopolar, medial temporal regions including the right hippocampus, and lateral temporal and occipital cortices. Our results point to the involvement of multiple brain regions in facilitating retrieval of past, and simulation of future, events. Damage to any of these key regions thus adversely affects the ability to engage in personally relevant mental time travel.

Effects of Early Thyroid Hormone Deficiency on Children's Autobiographical Memory Performance

Memory deficits and hippocampal abnormalities have been described in individuals with thyroid hormone (TH) insufficiencies; however, no study has yet examined their autobiographical memory (AM) abilities, which are known to be compromised by hippocampal damage. Investigations in adults have shown that AM consists of both episodic and semantic components and that the hippocampus is preferentially involved in episodic AM. The present study used the Children's Autobiographical Interview (CAI) to study episodic and semantic AM in 79 children aged 9 to 14 years, including 26 with early-treated congenital hypothyroidism (CH), 23 born to women with inadequately treated hypothyroidism during pregnancy (HYPO), and 30 typically developing controls. Results showed that relative to controls, CH and HYPO groups both exhibited weaknesses in episodic AM, but not semantic AM. In particular, CH and HYPO groups showed difficulty in recalling event details (i.e., the main happenings) and visual details from past experiences. Overall, this study highlights the importance of TH for early neurodevelopment and provides critical new insight into the effects of early treated TH deficiency on long-term memory performance. Furthermore, the present study indicates that the CAI is an effective tool for investigating episodic AM impairment in clinical pediatric populations.

Examining the role of memory in social cognition

Examining the role of memory in social cognition

Remembering the self in schizophrenia

Autobiographical memories are a key component of our identity. Here, in the light of Cuervo-Lombard and colleagues' paper in this issue, we review impairments in autobiographical memory in schizophrenia and the association between autobiographical memory and outcome in the disorder. We also discuss whether these deficits are specific to schizophrenia and a possible link with traumatic events.

Autobiographical significance in past and future public semantic memory: A case-study

Refined investigation of infrequent dissociations within remote memory, such as preservation of autobiographical episodic memory and selective impairment of public semantic memory could provide some insight on the interactions of long-term memory systems and their underlying brain correlates. Combining clinical neuropsychological and neuroimaging methods in the present study, we examined a patient surgically treated for temporal lobe epilepsy showing this rare pattern of dissociation. Specifically, we investigated along the two temporal directions, past and future, his autobiographical episodic memory, semantic memory for public events and famous people and their interaction through the concept of autobiographical significance (AS). The results showed impaired ability not only to recall past but also to imagine future public events in a context of preserved past and future personal episodic memory. Remarkably, impersonal future thinking was impaired regardless of AS, while the autobiographical-significant public past knowledge relied exclusively on the patient's spared autobiographical episodic memory. These results were corroborated by neuroimaging data showing the absence of brain activation for public knowledge devoid of personal significance and activation of the autobiographical memory cerebral network for personally significant public knowledge. Our findings suggest that AS did not ‘restore’ the code to access public semantic memory, but bypassed it by using personal memory sources successful only for past public recollections. Therefore, remembering impersonal and imagining public events seems to require the contribution of public semantic knowledge per se. The patient's cognitive profile suggested a reorganization of memory systems.

The neural basis of autobiographical memory deficits in transient epileptic amnesia

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is a recently recognized form of temporal lobe epilepsy which is often associated with persistent interictal impairment of autobiographical memory. We used fMRI to investigate the neural basis of this deficit. Eleven patients with TEA, who had no significant deficits on standard tests of anterograde memory, and 17 age and IQ matched healthy controls retrieved memories from across the lifespan. Both groups engaged the autobiographical memory network, but activation in patients was less extensive than in controls. Direct comparison revealed hypoactivation of regions in the right hemisphere. Specifically, patients showed reduced activation of the posterior parahippocampal gyrus (pPHG), especially for mid-life and recent memories, with decreased engagement of the right temporoparietal junction and the cerebellum. In addition, we found reduced effective connectivity in patients between the right pPHG and the right middle temporal gyrus. Our results are consistent with other evidence that TEA is a syndrome of medial temporal lobe epilepsy and indicate that it affects the function and connectivity of regions within the autobiographical memory network.

Autobiographical memory in multiple sclerosis patients: Assessment and cognitive facilitation

The multifocal nature of lesions in multiple sclerosis hints at the occurrence of autobiographical memory (AbM) impairment. However, the dearth of studies on AbM in multiple sclerosis is noticeable, notwithstanding the importance of AbM in everyday life. In the first section of this study, 25 multiple sclerosis patients and 35 controls underwent a detailed episodic AbM assessment. Results obtained by means of ANOVA suggested an AbM retrieval deficit in every patient. That pattern of performance paved the way for the second section of the study, in which we followed up 10 out of the 25 patients. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive facilitation programme designed to alleviate AbM retrieval deficits, based on the key role of mental visual imagery on AbM. Statistical group analyses by means of ANOVA and individual analyses using the χ2 test showed significant differences in AbM test results, in post-facilitation relative to pre-facilitation training, in all 10 patients. Moreover, the patients' comments showed that the positive effects were transferred in their daily life functioning. We would like to suggest that the facilitation programme efficiently enhanced the process of self-centred mental visual imagery, which might have compensated for poor retrieval of personal memories by providing better access to visual details and detailed visual scenes of personal recollections.

Similar autobiographical memory impairment in long-term secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease

Background: Memory disturbance is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS), but little is known about autobiographical memory deficits in the long-term course of different MS subtypes. Inflammatory activity and demyelination is pronounced in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) whereas, similar to Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration affecting autobiographical memory-associated areas is seen in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). Objective: In light of distinct disease mechanisms, we evaluated autobiographical memory in different MS subtypes and hypothesized similarities between elderly patients with SPMS and Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: We used the Autobiographical Memory Interview to assess episodic and semantic autobiographical memory in 112 education- and gender-matched participants, including healthy controls and patients with RRMS, SPMS, amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and early Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). Results: Patients with SPMS, AD, and aMCI, but not with RRMS, exhibited a pattern of episodic autobiographical memory impairment that followed Ribot’s Law; older memories were better preserved than more recent memories. In contrast to aMCI and AD, neither SPMS nor RRMS was associated with semantic autobiographical memory impairment. Conclusion: Our neuropsychological findings suggest that episodic autobiographical memory is affected in long-term patients with SPMS, possibly due to neurodegenerative processes in functional relevant brain regions.

An unusual cause of autobiographical memory loss.

We describe an unusual cause of autobiographical memory loss in a 55 year old man who presented with prominent memory loss for significant events in his life over a period of five years with evidence of patchy memory loss for events prior to this. It was associated with emotional lability and was complicated by a number of tragic events in his life in the previous four years. In addition there were a number of brief episodes (< 30 mins) where he would transiently lose his memory for events including for hours, days or months prior to the event. Neuropsychological assessment confirmed prominent autobiographical memory loss with minimal deficits in other domains. An electroencephalogram (EEG) revealed a simple partial seizure arising from the right temporal lobe, pointing to a diagnosis of Transient Epileptic Amnesia. He was commenced on anti-epileptic medication and responded both subjectively and objectively. There are approximately 94 cases of TEA described in the literature and the diagnostic criteria and postulated aetiology of this illness is discussed here. Clinicians need to have high index of suspicion of epilepsy when assessing a patient with prominent autobiographical memory impairments.

Autobiographical memory and the self in a case of transient epileptic amnesia

Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is characterized by deficits in autobiographical memory (AM). One of the functions of AM is to maintain the self, suggesting that the self may undergo changes as a result of memory loss in temporal lobe epilepsy. To examine this, we used a modification of a task used to assess the relationship between self and memory (the IAM task) in a single case, E.B. Despite complaints of AM loss, E.B. had no difficulty in producing a range of self-images (e.g., I am a husband) and collections of self-defining AMs in support of these statements. E.B. produced fewer episodic memories at times of self-formation, but this did not seem to impact on the maintenance of self. The results support recent work suggesting the self may be maintained in the absence of episodic memory. The application of tasks such as that used here will further elucidate AM impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy.

The organization of autobiographical memory in patients with schizophrenia

Background Patients with schizophrenia exhibit a wide range of cognitive deficits, including autobiographical memory impairment. It has been suggested that there is a link between this impairment and a disorganization of autobiographical knowledge. This study aimed to explore both the elementary and conceptual organization of autobiographical memory in schizophrenia. Methods We used an event-cueing procedure to obtain and compare ten chains of six inter-related autobiographical memories of eighteen patients with schizophrenia and seventeen control participants. Elementary organization, which relies on memories' basic characteristics, including sensory-perceptive, cognitive, affective and temporal ones, was assessed by calculating the degree of similarity of the memories' characteristics within chains. Cluster-type connectivity, a form of conceptual organization reflecting the ability to organize autobiographical information about sets of causally and thematically related events, was assessed by asking the participants to describe the type of relationship between cued and cueing autobiographical memories. Results Whereas in controls elementary organization of memories relied on sensory-perceptive and cognitive characteristics of the memories, in patients it was mostly based on the memories' emotional content. Temporal organization and conceptual organization appeared to be preserved in patients. Conclusions Patients fail to use sensory-perceptive and cognitive characteristics of memories to organize autobiographical knowledge. Possibly to compensate for this, they rely more on the memories' emotional characteristics. Our results point towards an imbalance between emotional and non-emotional factors underlying the organization of autobiographical memory in schizophrenia.

Alzheimer’s disease and impairment of the Self

Impairment of the Self has been described in frontal-temporal dementia but little research has been carried out in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study was to explore changes in the self in patients with AD. Forty-seven patients with mild to moderate AD were examined using a semi-structured scale designed to assess the self-concept along three dimensions, namely, the Material Self, the Social Self and the Spiritual Self. The majority of patients (43 out of 47) presented impairment of at least one dimension of the Self. When only one dimension was affected, it was always the Social Self. The severity of impairment of the Self was correlated to the impairment of the semantic autobiographical memory and apathy. The Self is impaired in AD and the Social Self dimension appears to be more vulnerable in AD than other dimensions.

A review of factors that moderate autobiographical memory performance in patients with major depressive disorder

Studies of autobiographical recall in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) reveal overgeneralization, where autobiographical memory (AM) comprises primarily factual or repeated information as opposed to details specific in time and in place and definitive of episodic re-experiencing. In addition to reviewing AM impairment in MDD, we explore the contribution of key method, demographic, and clinical variables to this dysfunction. Several candidate variables emerge, including testing method, emotion, mood state, illness burden, medication status, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), comorbidity, trauma, age, ruminative state, and executive and memory function. These variables appear to interact in a complex manner to influence AM performance in MDD.

Common and Unique Neural Correlates of Autobiographical Memory and Theory of Mind

There is an inconsistency regarding the relationship between thinking about personal past experiences during autobiographical memory (AM) and thinking about other people's mental states during theory of mind (ToM). Neuroimaging studies of AM and ToM consistently report overlap in the brain regions recruited. Lesion data, however, show that amnesic people with AM impairment can have intact ToM, suggesting that distinct neural mechanisms support these abilities [Rosenbaum, R. S., Stuss, D. T., Levine, B., & Tulving, E. Theory of mind is independent of episodic memory. Science, 318, 1257, 2007]. The current fMRI study examined the functional and neural correlates of remembering one's own experiences in response to personal photos (AM condition) and imagining others' experiences in response to strangers' photos (ToM condition). AM and ToM conditions were matched in terms of content and vividness, and were compared directly and to a common baseline. Analyses revealed common activity within frontal and temporal-parietal regions, yet midline structures exhibited greater activity during AM. More specific analyses of event construction and detail elaboration revealed unique activation of the right hippocampus during AM construction, and of lateral regions, such as the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) during ToM elaboration. Moreover, a region of left hippocampus/perirhinal cortex appeared to be driven by event vividness. Thus, differences in AM and ToM emerge when a common baseline is used and temporal dynamics are taken into account. Furthermore, the right TPJ and related lateral regions, and not the hippocampus, may be needed for ToM, given that this ability is intact in amnesic people.

52. Transient epileptic amnesia, autobiographical memory and the self: A case study

Objective: There is little research on how the self is maintained in patients with memory deficits experienced in epilepsy. We were motivated to empirically investigate the self in a remissive case of transient epileptic amnesia, whose subjective complaint was of impaired autobiographical memory (AM).

Amnésie du développement chez le prématuré

All types of memory disorders have been observed in children, although these reports are rare. Developmental amnesia selectively involves episodic daily life memory while semantic learning is respected and general intelligence is not affected. Daily life is severely disturbed by this cognitive disorder usually occurring after hypoxic ischemic injury with bilateral hippocampal atrophy on MRI. Memory disorders are underdiagnosed in at-risk patients and rarely reported. We report on a former small-for-gestational-age preterm infant with no obvious hypoxic event during perinatal life. The follow-up was normal until elementary school. He had to spend 2 years in 1st grade and exhibited some behavioral troubles. At the age of 9, he was suspected of suffering from dyspraxia and was referred to a pediatrics rehabilitation center. IQ and neuropsychological tests were administered and showed selective autobiographical memory impairment defining developmental amnesia. Despite a typical clinical presentation, brain MRI was normal, including the hippocampal area. This observation underlines the need for a prolonged follow-up until school age to assess the outcome of preterm infants. Otherwise, the evaluation will be limited to motor impairment. Particular attention should be paid to memory during the follow-up to avoid misdiagnoses and to plan and adapt these children's educational strategies.