Autobiographical Memory Performance Research Articles

Neural and behavioural correlates of autobiographical memory retrieval in patients with major depressive disorder and a history of trauma exposure

Alterations in autobiographical memory (AM) performance have been identified in major depressive disorder (MDD) and in trauma-related disorders, however, the neural and behavioural correlates of AM retrieval in patients with MDD and a co-morbid history of trauma remain unexplored. Here, we used behavioural and neuroimaging techniques to investigate AM in this patient group and in matched healthy comparison subjects (HCs). Twenty patients with MDD and trauma exposure and 20 HCs underwent fMRI scanning while recalling positive, negative, and neutral events. Participants were subsequently administered the Autobiographical Interview (Levine et al., 2002), allowing for separation of episodic and non-episodic details of memories. Key clinical variables, including illness severity, dissociative (e.g., depersonalization, derealization) symptoms, and history of parental bonding, were assessed.Compared to controls, patients showed reduced activation in the left parahippocampus and left anterior insula during retrieval of positive memories. Among patients, greater specificity of positive AM recall on the Autobiographical Interview was related to reduced activation of the left anterior insula during retrieval of positive memories. Moreover, increased left parahippocampal activation during negative memory recall was related to heightened levels of paternal care among the patient group.Taken together, these findings point towards potential alterations in key neural processes (e.g., episodic vividness and embodiment) associated with AM retrieval among MDD patients with a history of co-morbid trauma exposure. These alterations appear unrelated to illness severity, but instead are associated with parental bonding.

Autobiographical memory functions of nostalgia in comparison to rumination and counterfactual thinking: similarity and uniqueness

ABSTRACTWe compared and contrasted nostalgia with rumination and counterfactual thinking in terms of their autobiographical memory functions. Specifically, we assessed individual differences in nostalgia, rumination, and counterfactual thinking, which we then linked to self-reported functions or uses of autobiographical memory (Self-Regard, Boredom Reduction, Death Preparation, Intimacy Maintenance, Conversation, Teach/Inform, and Bitterness Revival). We tested which memory functions are shared and which are uniquely linked to nostalgia. The commonality among nostalgia, rumination, and counterfactual thinking resides in their shared positive associations with all memory functions: individuals who evinced a stronger propensity towards past-oriented thought (as manifested in nostalgia, rumination, and counterfactual thinking) reported greater overall recruitment of memories in the service of present functioning. The uniqueness of nostalgia resides in its comparatively strong positive associations with Intimacy Maintenance, Teach/Inform, and Self-Regard and weak association with Bitterness Revival. In all, nostalgia possesses a more positive functional signature than do rumination and counterfactual thinking.

Autobiographical Memory in Bipolar Disorder and Its Link to Neuropsychological Functioning

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the specificity of autobiographical memory (AM) in bipolar disorder (BD) and to investigate the association between AM and neuropsychological functions. Method: Twenty bipolar patients and 22 matched healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. AM was assessed with an extended version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) including rejection cue words. A neuropsychological test battery was used to examine verbal memory, executive functions, and attention. Results: Across both groups, the number of specific memories in the AMT was significantly smaller in response to rejection cue words and positive cue words than in response to negative cue words. Participants with BD and HCs did not differ significantly in neuropsychological measures. Across both groups, scores of verbal memory, executive functions, and attention were significantly correlated with specificity of retrieved memories. Limitations: Although our clinical sample consisted of clinically stable outpatients, 6 out of 20 patients were not rated as euthymic but as mildly depressed. All BD patients were medicated. Conclusion: Contrary to previous results, patients with BD did not differ in the number of specific memories compared to an HC group. Our findings suggest that neuropsychological functioning is associated with AMT specificity. Further research is required to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms which may influence the ease of memory retrieval.

I'm not the person I used to be: The self and autobiographical memories of immoral actions.

People maintain a positive identity in at least two ways: They evaluate themselves more favorably than other people, and they judge themselves to be better now than they were in the past. Both strategies rely on autobiographical memories. The authors investigate the role of autobiographical memories of lying and emotional harm in maintaining a positive identity. For memories of lying to or emotionally harming others, participants judge their own actions as less morally wrong and less negative than those in which other people lied to or emotionally harmed them. Furthermore, people judge those actions that happened further in the past to be more morally wrong than those that happened more recently. Finally, for periods of the past when they believed that they were very different people than they are now, participants judge their actions to be more morally wrong and more negative than those actions from periods of their pasts when they believed that they were very similar to who they are now. The authors discuss these findings in relation to theories about the function of autobiographical memory and moral cognition in constructing and perceiving the self over time. (PsycINFO Database Record

Randomized Clinical Trial of Real-Time fMRI Amygdala Neurofeedback for Major Depressive Disorder: Effects on Symptoms and Autobiographical Memory Recall

Patients with depression show blunted amygdala hemodynamic activity to positive stimuli, including autobiographical memories. The authors examined the therapeutic efficacy of real-time functional MRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) training aimed at increasing the amygdala's hemodynamic response to positive memories in patients with depression. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, unmedicated adults with depression (N=36) were randomly assigned to receive two sessions of rtfMRI-nf either from the amygdala (N=19) or from a parietal control region not involved in emotional processing (N=17). Clinical scores and autobiographical memory performance were assessed at baseline and 1 week after the final rtfMRI-nf session. The primary outcome measure was change in score on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the main analytic approach consisted of a linear mixed-model analysis. In participants in the experimental group, the hemodynamic response in the amygdala increased relative to their own baseline and to the control group. Twelve participants in the amygdala rtfMRI-nf group, compared with only two in the control group, had a >50% decrease in MADRS score. Six participants in the experimental group, compared with one in the control group, met conventional criteria for remission at study end, resulting in a number needed to treat of 4. In participants receiving amygdala rtfMRI-nf, the percent of positive specific memories recalled increased relative to baseline and to the control group. rtfMRI-nf training to increase the amygdala hemodynamic response to positive memories significantly decreased depressive symptoms and increased the percent of specific memories recalled on an autobiographical memory test. These data support a role of the amygdala in recovery from depression.

Sharing specific “We” autobiographical memories in close relationships: the role of contact frequency

ABSTRACTSharing memories in conversations with close others is posited to be part of the social function of autobiographical memory. The present research focused on the sharing of a particular type of memory: Specific memories about one-time co-experienced events, which we termed Specific We memories. Two studies with 595 total participants examined the factors that lead to and/or are influenced by the sharing of Specific We memories. In Study 1, participants reported on their most recent conversation. Specific We memories were reportedly discussed most often in conversations with others who were close and with whom the participant had frequent communication. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned either to increase or to simply record the frequency of communication with a close other (parent). Increases in the frequency of reported sharing of Specific We memories as well as closeness to the parent resulted. Mediation analyses of both studies revealed causal relationships among reported sharing of Specific We memories and closeness. We discuss the relevance of these results for understanding the social function of autobiographical memory.

The psychological distance of memories: Examining causal relations with mood and self-esteem in young, middle-aged and older adults.

Three studies examined the self-enhancement function of autobiographical memory (measured with subjective temporal distance of memories). Participants recalled a memory of an attained and a failed goal and rated the subjective distance between each memory and the present. Study 1 showed that young adults with higher self-esteem felt closer to memories of attained goals and farther from failure memories than those with lower self-esteem. In Study 2, young, middle-aged and older adults with higher self-esteem felt closer to success memories, whereas self-esteem was unrelated to the temporal distance of failure memories. In both studies, feeling closer to success memories (and far from failure) led to enhanced mood. In Study 3, state self-esteem was experimentally manipulated. The manipulation had no effect on young and older adults, but middle-aged adults whose self-esteem was decreased, felt closer to success memories than failure memories. Results are discussed in relation to the temporal self-appraisal theory.

匂い手がかりによって喚起される自伝的記憶特性質問紙（OEAMQ）の開発

Odor-evoked autobiographical memory and related psychological changes have been evaluated based on several factors such as emotionality, clarity, and re-experience, but these assessments remain incomplete. We developed the Odor-Evoked Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire (OEAMQ) as a new method for comprehensively evaluating the characteristics and function of olfactory autobiographical memory. Odor-evoked memories were initially evaluated using multiple items from questionnaires on general memory characteristics, as well as the results of previous studies of odor-evoked memories. We obtained seven factors of which four (retrospective interpretation, clarity, time information, and sensory experience) were consistent with the general questionnaires, and three were new factors specific for olfactory memory (future action, emotional experience, and nostalgia). To investigate the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, we evaluated odor-evoked autobiographical memories using 21 items (three for each factor). Factor analysis verified the seven-factor structure and demonstrated it to be sufficiently reliable (Cronbach’s alpha = .91). The validity of the questionnaire was also confirmed by high correlations between odor pleasantness and memory scores.

The Socialization of Children’s Memory: Linking Maternal Conversational Style to the Development of Children’s Autobiographical and Deliberate Memory Skills

Data from a large-scale, longitudinal research study with an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample were utilized to explore linkages between maternal elaborative conversational style and the development of children’s autobiographical and deliberate memory. Assessments were made when the children were aged 3, 5, and 6 years old, and the results reveal concurrent and longitudinal linkages between maternal conversational style in a mother–child reminiscing task and children’s autobiographical memory performance. Maternal conversational style while reminiscing was also significantly related to children’s strategic behaviors and recall in 2 deliberate memory tasks, both concurrently and longitudinally. Results from this examination replicate and extend what is known about the linkages between maternal conversational style, children’s abilities to talk about previous experiences, and children’s deliberate memory skills as they transition from the preschool years to early elementary school years.

Role of anxiety and brooding in specificity of autobiographical recall.

Overgeneral schemas and lack of autobiographical memory (AM) specificity about our past experiences can predict mood disturbance. Rumination, functional avoidance and executive processes are the main explanatory variables of such overgenerality. However, in non-clinical samples, rumination predicts overgenerality most consistently after the induction of dysphoric mood. Anxiety also activates rumination. Furthermore, anxiety predicts memory performance and has effects on mood which are independent of the effects of rumination. So, what might be the role of anxiety in autobiographical memory performance? A sample of 210 voluntary participants reported measures of autobiographical memory, anxiety, rumination (brooding and reflection), functional avoidance and executive functions (semantic and phonetic verbal fluency task). Autobiographical performance (specificity) was negatively associated with brooding and age and positively with phonetic verbal fluency but not with functional avoidance and anxiety. However, anxiety and brooding were positively correlated even after controlling for depression scores. Moreover, using structural equationmodeling, anxiety showed a significant indirect effect on autobiographical specificity through brooding rumination. These results suggest a possible association of anxiety with autobiographical recall through brooding rumination.

Personality traits, autobiographical memory and knowledge of self and others: A comparative study in young people with autism spectrum disorder.

The relationship between dissociable components of autobiographical memory (e.g. semantic personality traits and episodic memory retrieval) and other cognitive skills that are proposed to enable one to develop a sense of self (e.g. introspection) have not previously been explored for children with autism spectrum disorder. This study compared autobiographical memory (semantic and episodic) and knowledge of self (internal/external self-knowledge and introspection/mentalising abilities) in children (aged 11-18 years) with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typically developing controls (total N = 48). Novel and standard tasks were employed. Compared to typically developing controls, young people with autism spectrum disorder had autobiographical memory difficulties that were characterised by a reduction in the retrieval of semantic personality traits, with more initial prompts required to facilitate episodic memory retrieval and fewer episodic memories containing emotional and sensory information. Knowledge of the self and others was also impaired, with reduced introspection and poorer mentalising abilities. Young people with autism spectrum disorder were also identified as presenting with an atypical relationship between autobiographical memory and self-knowledge, which was significantly different from typically developing controls. Test performance is discussed in relation to the functions of autobiographical memory, with consideration of how these cognitive difficulties may contribute to clinical practices and the social and behavioural characteristics of autism spectrum disorder.

Confabulation: What is associated with its rise and fall? A study in brain injury

The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive and emotional factors associated with the presence and clinical course of confabulation.24 confabulating participants were compared with 11 brain injured and 6 healthy controls on measures of temporal context confusions (TCC), mood state (elation, depression) and lack of insight. Measures of autobiographical memory and executive function were also available. Changes in confabulation and these other measures were monitored over 9 months in the confabulating group.We found that TCC were more common in confabulating patients than in healthy controls, and that the decline in these errors paralleled the recovery from confabulation. However, TCC were not specific to the presence of confabulation in brain injury; and their decline was not correlated with change in confabulation scores over 9 months. We found that elated mood and lack of insight discriminated between confabulating and non-confabulating patients, but these measures did not correlate with either the severity of confabulation or change in confabulation scores through time. What seems to have been most strongly associated with the severity of confabulation scores at ‘baseline’ and changes through time (over 9 months) were the severity of memory impairment (especially on autobiographical memory) and errors on executive tests (particularly in making cognitive estimates). Greater autobiographical memory and executive impairment were associated with more severe confabulation.The findings were consistent with the view that confabulation results from executive dysfunction where autobiographical memory is also impaired; and that it resolves as these impairments subside.

Self-Disorders in Individuals with Autistic Traits: Contribution of Reduced Autobiographical Reasoning Capacities.

The present web-based study (N=840) aimed to illuminate the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in autism. Initially, participants selected three self-defining memories. Then, we assessed their capacity to give meaning to these events (i.e., meaning making), their tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory to better understand themselves (i.e., self-continuity function of autobiographical memory) and their clarity of self-concept. The results showed that individuals with high autistic traits (ATs) had a lower clarity of self-concept than control participants. Meaning making was also reduced in AT individuals and mediated the relation between AT and self-concept clarity. Our results suggest that the reduced clarity of self-concept in AT individuals is related to an impaired capacity to make meaning of important past life events.

Self-disorders in individuals with attenuated psychotic symptoms: Contribution of a dysfunction of autobiographical memory

Patients with schizophrenia and people with subclinical psychotic symptoms have difficulties getting a clear and stable representation of their self. The cognitive mechanisms involved in this reduced clarity of self-concept remain poorly understood. The present study examined whether an altered way of thinking or reasoning about one's past may account for the reduced clarity of self-concept in individuals with attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS). An online study comprising 667 participants examined the capacity to give a meaning to past events and to scrutinize autobiographical memory to better understand him/herself. Our results showed that in this sample, individuals with APS (n=49) have a lower clarity of self-concept and a higher tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory than controls subjects (n=147). A mediation analysis performed on the full sample revealed that the relation between APS and clarity of self-concept was mediated by a tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory. Our results suggest that the weakness of self-concept, which increases with the intensity of psychotic symptoms, may be related to an altered function of autobiographical memory, so that examining past events may fail to sustain a stable and clear representation of the self when psychotic symptoms increase.

The Features of the Interrelation between Inward Picture of the Disease and Autobiographical Memory among Offenders with Schizophrenia

The results of studies on the interrelation of autobiographical memory with the features of the inward picture of the disease among offenders with schizophrenia. There were examined 17 patients with schizophrenia with criminal history, under compulsory treatment. The comparison group consisted of 17 patients with schizophrenia with prosocial behavior and 18 mentally healthy individuals without criminal history. The following techniques aimed to study the inward picture of disease were used: the types of attitude towards disease, symptom checklist-90-revised, life-line (for studying the autobiographical memory), metaphor of the past, functions of autobiographical memory, the questionnaire of self-attitude and balanced inventory of desirable responding. Specific interrelationships between the types of attitude to the disease and perceived symptoms with the peculiarities of functioning of autobiographical memory were revealed. It was found that patients have less realistic possibilities of consciousness with reduced mediation of autobiographical memory representations of the disease at the higher level of severity of distress due to the perceived symptoms and to the less realistic and adaptive types of attitude to disease. It was discovered that offenders with schizophrenia are characterized by the predominance of negative perceptions of past experience, the fragmentation of attitude to disease with low awareness of their symptoms, which is associated with a lower contribution to the mediation of ideas about the disease of functional constructs of autobiographical memory.

The functions of involuntary autobiographical memory cued by odor

The functions of involuntary autobiographical memory cued by odor

Autobiographical Memory and Depression: Identity‐continuity and Problem‐solving Functions Indirectly Predict Symptoms over Time through Psychological Well‐being

SummaryThe aim of this study was to assess the longitudinal associations between adaptive autobiographical memory functions and depressive symptoms. Consistent with the proposed mechanisms of change underpinning cognitive‐reminiscence therapy (CRT), it was hypothesised that more frequent adaptive reminiscence would lead to increases in psychological resources over time and indirectly affect depressive symptoms through this pathway. A sample of 171 young adults (mean age = 25.9 years, SD = 3.5) completed measures of how frequently they utilised autobiographical memory for identity‐continuity and problem‐solving purposes, depressive symptoms and personal resources (self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, meaning in life and optimism) at two time‐points. The results of structural equation modelling supported the model of indirect influence between reminiscence functions and depression through these psychological resources. These findings clarify the effects of adaptive autobiographical memory on depressive symptoms in young adults and indicate potential benefits of interventions such as CRT. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Functions of autobiographical memory in Taiwanese and American emerging adults

The study addresses cultural and person-level factors contributing to emerging adult's use of memory to serve adaptive functions. The focus is on three functions: self-continuity, social-bonding and directing-behaviour. Taiwanese (N = 85, 52 women) and American (N = 95, 51 women) emerging adults completed the Thinking about Life Experiences scale, and measures of trait personality, self-concept clarity and future time perspective. Findings show that individuals from both cultures use memory to serve these three functions, but Taiwanese individuals use memory more frequently than Americans to maintain self-continuity. Culture also interacted with person-level factors: in Taiwan, but not America, memory is more frequently used to create self-continuity in individuals high in conscientiousness. Across cultures, having lower self-concept clarity was related to greater use of memory to create self-continuity. Findings are discussed in terms of how memory serves functions in context and specific aspects of the Taiwanese and American cultural context that may predict the functional use of memory in emerging adulthood.

Going global: The functions of autobiographical memory in cultural context

This special issue of Memory brings together research from around the globe, from Japanese, Chinese and East Indian cultures, to American and European societies, to the Caribbean, to Turkey and to Australia and New Zealand, which examines how and why people, from childhood to old age, remember the personal past in daily life. This journey highlights the important role of the cultural context in shaping the functional usages of autobiographical memory. We illuminate six major contributions of cross-cultural research to a broader and deeper understanding of the functions of autobiographical memory, and call attention to the filed that memory research must “go global.”

The Self‐enhancement Function of Autobiographical Memory

SummaryThe self‐enhancement function of autobiographical memory was examined by assessing the psychological distance of adults' most important memories. Participants (N = 445, ages 18–80) reported the seven most important events from their lives on an online survey and rated the memories in terms of valence, emotionality, importance, vividness, reliving, rehearsal, novelty, and psychological distance. Participants also completed the Rosenberg Self‐esteem Scale. Regression analyses showed that participants felt psychologically closer to positive memories than to negative memories, independent of the actual age of the memories. The self‐enhancement function was unrelated to participants' age but was related to their self‐esteem: Higher self‐esteem was associated with feeling closer to positive memories. Finally, a moderated multiple‐mediation model showed that memories' importance and rehearsal mediated the relation between one's self‐esteem and the psychological distance of their positive versus negative memories. Findings are discussed in relation to the functional approach to autobiographical memory. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.