Autobiographical Memory In Depression Research Articles

Negative Autobiographical Memory in Depression Reflects Elevated Amygdala-Hippocampal Reactivity and Hippocampally Associated Emotion Regulation

BackgroundDysregulated autobiographical recall is observed in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it is unknown whether people with MDD show abnormalities in memory-, emotion-, and control-related brain systems during reactivity to and regulation of negative autobiographical memories. MethodsWe used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify neural mechanisms underlying MDD-related emotional responses to negative autobiographical memories and the ability to downregulate these responses using a cognitive regulatory strategy known as reappraisal. We compared currently depressed, medication-free patients with MDD (n = 29) with control participants with no history of depression (n = 23). ResultsRelative to healthy control participants, medication-free MDD patients reported greater negative emotion during recall but relatively intact downregulation success. They also showed elevated amygdala activity and greater amygdala-hippocampal connectivity. This connectivity mediated the effect of MDD on negative emotional experience. When reappraising memories (vs. recalling from an immersed perspective), the MDD and control groups showed comparable recruitment of the prefrontal, parietal, and temporal cortices, and comparable downregulation of the amygdala and anterior hippocampus. However, MDD patients showed greater downregulation of the posterior hippocampus, and the extent of this downregulation predicted successful reduction of negative affect in MDD patients only. ConclusionsThese data suggest amygdala-hippocampal connectivity and posterior hippocampal downregulation as brain mechanisms related to elevated emotional reactivity and atypical emotion regulation in MDD.

Remoteness and Valence of Autobiographical Memory in Depression

We examined whether major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with a tendency to recall more remote, specific autobiographical memories, particularly in the context of positive memories. To this end, individuals with MDD (n = 26) and healthy controls (n = 54) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test. Consistent with the hypothesis, remoteness of specific memories in the MDD group, but not the control group, depended on valence. Compared to the control group, the MDD group recalled more remote positive events. Additionally, the MDD group’s positive specific memories were significantly more remote than their negative specific memories. Retrieving remote positive memories might impair mood regulation and maintain an individual’s negative mood and perpetuate depression.

Disentangling the Interplay Among Cognitive Biases: Evidence of Combined Effects of Attention, Interpretation and Autobiographical Memory in Depression

Previous research has found that cognitive biases in attention, interpretation, and memory play an important role in depression. However, there is little knowledge of the interplay between these biases in clinical depression. The present study was aimed to model different pathways of relation among attention, interpretation and autobiographical memory biases, and to examine their contribution to account for depression status outcomes. Cognitive biases were evaluated in a sample comprising 22 currently-depressed and 36 never-depressed individuals representing a broad range of depression severity levels. Cognitive biases were assessed by three separate tasks using different types of stimuli. Our main finding was a significant indirect effect model in which attention bias to negative faces was linked to greater negative memory bias via its association with negative interpretation bias. Within this model, the specific pathway between attention bias to negative faces and negative interpretation bias accounted both for significant variance in depression severity as well as for depression diagnostic status. These findings increase our understanding of the complex interplay between cognitive mechanisms involved in clinical depression and highlight hypothetical pathways relevant for future interventions.

Autobiographical memory in depression's pathology and treatment

News reviewFree Access Autobiographical memory in depression's pathology and treatment Mark Greener, Mark GreenerSearch for more papers by this author Mark Greener, Mark GreenerSearch for more papers by this author First published: 25 October 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/pnp.446AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume20, Issue5September/October 2016Pages 34-35 RelatedInformation

Autobiographical Memory Specificity in Major Depression Treated With Electroconvulsive Therapy.

Autobiographical memory in major depression is characterized by reduced specificity, which reflects the tendency to summarize categories of events rather than recall specific instances of events situated in a time and place. This widely studied cognitive marker for depression has not been extensively examined in patients treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). We conducted a retrospective chart review of a naturalistic cohort of patients receiving a course of brief-pulse predominantly bitemporal ECT for a major depressive episode. Patients completed the recent life section of the Kopelman Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) at pre-ECT baseline, end of treatment course, and 3-month follow-up as part of routine clinical practice. Mood was assessed using the 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. We identified 48 patients (mean age, 61.6; female, 62.5%) meeting inclusion criteria. A total of 77.1% of patients responded to the ECT course, 29.7% subsequently relapsed. There were no significant changes over time on either AMI total score or semantic and episodic subscales. However, patients were markedly impaired on episodic autobiographical memory compared with the normative sample at all 3 assessment points, whereas personal semantic memory recall was normal. Specificity of episodic autobiographical memory at baseline did not predict response to ECT or likelihood of relapse. We found reduced specificity of episodic autobiographical memory in depressed patients before ECT, which persisted at long-term follow-up despite significant improvement in mood. The finding of no detectable retrograde amnesia likely reflects lack of sensitivity of the recent life section of the AMI to detect ECT-induced changes.

Autobiographical episodic memory in major depressive disorder.

Autobiographical memory in major depression has been characterized as overgeneralized, with patients recalling few episodic details, prioritizing general schematic events. However, whether this effect reflects impaired episodic or semantic memory, or domain-general cognitive processes, is unknown. We used the Autobiographical Interview (Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2002) to derive episodic and semantic contributions to autobiographical memory in patients with severe major depression. We also assessed memory for public events and famous people. Depressed patients were impaired on episodic, but not semantic, autobiographical memory from 2 weeks to 10 years before testing. They were also impaired on memory for public events, possibly because they followed the news less than controls. Patients' memory for famous names was not impaired, although this was strongly associated with non-episodic memories to a greater degree than in controls. The findings suggest a specific impairment of episodic autobiographical memory in depression that is not fully accounted for by domain-general processes involved in strategic retrieval.

Functions of Autobiographical Memory in Depression and Narcissism

Functions of Autobiographical Memory in Depression and Narcissism

Autobiographical memory in depression: An fMRI study

Depression is associated with three distinct alterations in memory functioning: mood-congruent recall, overgenerality, and intrusive memories. These concern the autobiographical memory system, yet no previous studies have examined the neural correlates of autobiographical memory function in depression. In the present study we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess depressed and control participants during an autobiographical memory task. In their first visit to the laboratory, participants wrote a narrative account of a distressing event. Participants were scanned during the second visit while they viewed old items from their narrative and new words or phrases in a recognition memory task. Activity common to both groups during the successful identification of personal emotional memories was observed in regions previously associated with autobiographical memory retrieval. Reduced activity in the depressed group was observed in three regions of the prefrontal cortex associated with cognitive, emotional, and memory inhibition. These results are consistent with a failure by depressed individuals to inhibit task-irrelevant information during an autobiographical memory task.

Mémoire autobiographique épisodique et dépression: Episodic autobiographical memory in depression: a review

Autobiographical memory and personal identity (self) are linked by a reciprocal relationship. Autobiographical memory is critical for both grounding and changing the self. Individuals' current self-views, beliefs, and goals influence their recollections of the past. According to Tulving, episodic memory is characterized by autonoetic consciousness, which is associated with a sense of the self in the past (emotions and goals) and mental reliving of an experience. Its close relationship with self and emotion strongly involves episodic autobiographical memory in the psychopathology of depression. However, due to methodological and conceptual issues, little attention has been paid to episodic autobiographical memory in depression. Since the seminal work of Williams et al. 15 years ago, there is now growing interest around this issue.We reviewed the evidence for three major features of autobiographical memory functioning in depression: an increase in general memory retrieval (overgenerality), a mood-congruent memory effect and the high occurrence of intrusive memories of stressful events. Although it was first observed among suicidal patients, overgenerality is actually associated with both depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Overgenerality is not associated with anxious disorders other than post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or borderline personality disorder. Most of controlled studies carried out on autobiographical memory in depression rely on the Williams' Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). When presented with positive and negative cue words and asked to retrieve specific personal events, depressed patients (unlike matched controls) are less specific in their memories. They tend to recall repeated events (categorical overgeneral memories) rather than single episodes (specific memories). Overgenerality in depression is: 1) more evident with positive than with negative events (mood-congruent memory effect); 2) related to avoidance of intrusive memories; 3) quite stable over time, ie, remaining after remission; and 4) related to short-term prognosis in depression. Although it is not clear whether overgenerality is a cause or an effect of depression, there is some evidence to suggest that overgenerality is a trait marker indicating vulnerability to persistent depression. Mood-congruent effect, a well-known effect in depression, has been addressed in both autobio-graphical and non-autobiographical memory. Depressed patients spontaneously recall more negative than positive memories. With the AMT, depressed patients take longer to respond to positive than to negative cues, whereas controls do the opposite. Depression is also associated with a high occurrence of spontaneous intrusive memories of stressful life events. Studies found intrusions and related avoidance, as measured by the Impact of Event Scale, to be positively correlated with overgenerality, whereas there was no direct link between performance on the Autobiographical Memory Test and stressful life events per se. Both Williams' mnemonic interlock model and Conway's self-memory system are useful models to address the complexity of findings regarding autobiographical memory and depression.According to Williams, repeated avoidance of stressful memories leads depressed patients to have an autobiographical memory functioning characterized by iterative retrievals of categorical overgeneral memories, producing an enduring overgeneral retrieval style. According to Conway, the recollection of autobiographical memories requires a retrieval process that provides access to sensory/perceptual event-specific knowledge (ie perceptions and feelings) via a personal semantic knowledge base (ie lifetime periods and generic events). This retrieval process (generative retrieval mode) relies on both executive functioning and current self-view, namely the working-self. Spontaneous memories, usually vivid, result from a direct retrieval mode in which event-specific knowledge is directly triggered. In line with this model, episodic autobiographical memory impairment in state depression may arise from the working self rather than from autobiographical knowledge. The mood-congruent effect may be explained by the current (depressed) self. The high occurrence of intrusive memories may be explained by lack of executive control during direct retrieval. Overgenerality may rely on the interaction of both executive dysfunction and current (depressed) self, within the working-self, during generative retrieval. Our review suggests that further evidence is needed to address the relationship between executive functioning, self and autobiographical memory in depression.

Episodic autobiographical memory in depression: Specificity, autonoetic consciousness, and self-perspective

Autobiographical memory (AM) and the self are closely linked. AM retrieval in depression is characterized by a lack of specificity, suggesting an impairment of episodic AM. Autonoetic consciousness and self-perspective, which are critical to episodic AM, have never been addressed in depression. Twenty-one depressed inpatients and 21 matched controls were given an episodic AM task designed to assess positive and negative memories regarding specificity, autonoetic consciousness (remember/know procedure), and self-perspective (field/observer procedure). For specificity, “remember”, and “field” responses, ANOVAs revealed a main group effect and a group × valence interaction. Between groups, patients showed lower scores than controls for positive memories. Within groups, patients showed greater scores for negative memories, and controls showed greater scores for positive memories. There is a global episodic AM impairment of positive memories in depression regarding specificity, autonoetic consciousness, and self-perspective. Our results suggest new cognitive interventions to improve the self-relevance of positive memories in depression.

Cognition, Emotion, and Psychopathology: Theoretical, Empirical, and Clinical Directions

Cognition, Emotion, and Psychopathology: Theoretical, Empirical, and Clinical Directions

Autobiographic memory impairment following acute cortisol administration

Previous experimental studies in humans have reported that the administration of cortisol impairs retrieval of hippocampal dependent, episodic memory. In particular, cortisol impaired recall of previously learnt words. In the present study, we investigated if cortisol also affects autobiographical memory, which reflects a subcategory of hippocampal dependent, episodic memory. Twenty two male students participated in this placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study. One hour after the administration of 10 mg hydrocortisone, subjects generated significantly fewer specific memories in the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) when compared to placebo. In contrast, cortisol did not affect mood and attention. The present findings extend the current knowledge about cortisol effects on memory retrieval and raise the possibility that impaired autobiographical memory in depression may be at least partly due to elevated cortisol levels which often accompany this disorder.

Autobiographical Memory in Major Depression: A Comparison between First-Episode and Recurrent Patients

Autobiographical memory in depression is characterized by an increase in general memory evocation. The aim of this study is to compare autobiographical memory in patients with a first depressive episode and in recurrent patients before and after recovery, using Williams’ and Scott’s autobiographical memory test. Our results show an increase of the number of general memories only with positive cue words in both groups of patients during the depressive episode. After clinical improvement, this specificity remains in recurrent patients who, in addition, recall more general memories for negative words. By contrast, patients with a first depressive episode are no longer different from controls. These results show both an overgeneralization and a deficit in positive memory access during the depressive episode, whatever the number of previous episodes. Moreover, recurrence chronically modifies access to emotional memories.

Rumination and overgeneral memory in depression: effects of self-focus and analytic thinking.

Previous research has shown that, compared with a rumination induction, a brief distraction procedure reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in depression. The authors investigated whether this effect depends on reductions in analytic thinking or reductions in self-focus. Focus of attention (high vs. low self-focus) and thinking style (high vs. low analytical thinking) were independently manipulated in depressed patients in a 2 x 2 design. Autobiographical recall was measured pre- and postmanipulation. Thinking style significantly affected overgeneral memory, whereas focus of attention significantly affected despondent mood. Reducing analytical self-focus reduced overgeneral memory, suggesting that high levels of naturally occurring ruminative analytic thinking may be important in the maintenance of overgeneral memory. Overgeneral memory in depression may be associated with chronic ruminative attempts to make sense of current or past difficulties.

Autobiographical memory: an introduction

Part 1 Identifying autobiographical memory: types of memories types of autobiographical memories are autobiographivcal memories true? what do autobiographical memories represent? summary - characteristics of autobiographical memories. Part 2 The early theorists: Ribot - a vision in time Galton: cueing autobiographical memory Freud - past as dictator Bartlett - reconstructing past early experimentalists modern agenda. Part 3 The time of your life: sampling memory - Galton's original data short lives - sampling memory age distributions of young people long lives - sampling memory age distributions of older people distribution of memory ages across life-span, reconsidered memory age distributions from short, and verifiable, time periods sampling structured time periods - school year dating by landmarks process of dating summary - memory retrieval and memory dating. Part 4 Vivid memories: memories criticisms of flashbulb memory concept veridicality and determinants of memories memories - a special class of memories? role of emotion in vivid memory formation conclusions - characteristics of flashbulb, and vivid, memories. Part 5 Emotions and self: emotion and autobiographical memory self and autobiographical memory self-knowledge summary - emotion and personal significance. Part 6 Organization in autobiographical memory: computational models of event knowledge structure of autobiographical memory life themes theoretical aspects of structure - the past is another country summary - organization of autobiographical memory. Part 7 Remembering past - process of retrieval: generate-search-verify model recency, categories and images single-case studies events and thoughts conclusions - retrieval of specific memories. Part 8 The development and decline of autobiographical memory: development of autobiographical memory - childhood amnesia Freud and repression of past knowledge structures and emergence of autobiographical memories autobiographical memory in old age decline of autobiographical memory meaning of life. Part 9 The impairment of autobiographical memory: amnesia impairments of public knowledge impairments of autobiographical memory methodological note living with amnesia autobiographical memory in depression. Part 10 Autobiographical memory and cognition: aspects of autobiographical memory facts, concepts and memories learning, problem-solving and explanation what is an autobiographical memory? conclusions.

Autobiographical memory in depression

Recent research has shown that suicidal patients are not only biased in the speed with which they can remember positive and negative events from their past, but that they also find it more difficult to be specific in their memories. That is, they tend to recall sequences of events, or time periods, rather than single episodes. This tendency has been found to be more evident with positive than with negative events. This paper examines whether the same phenomenon can be observed in patients with a diagnosis of primary Major Depressive Disorder. Twenty depressed patients and twenty matched controls were presented with positive and negative cue words and asked to retrieve specific personal memories. Results showed that depressives (unlike controls) took longer to respond to positive than to negative cues. In addition, the depressed patients were less specific in their memories, especially in response to positive cues. These results are explained within a 'descriptions' theory of autobiographical memory, and the remedial implications are discussed.