Memory For Public Events Research Articles

The hippocampus supports precise memory for public events regardless of their remoteness

The necessity of the human hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe structures to semantic memory remains contentious. Impaired semantic memory following hippocampal lesions could arise either due to partially intertwined episodic memories and/or retrograde/anterograde effects. In this study, we tested amnesic individuals with lesions in hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe (n = 7) and age-matched controls (n = 14) on their ability to precisely recall the dates of famous public events that occurred either before (i.e., pre-lifetime) or after participants’ birth date (lifetime). We show that deficits in dating precision are greatest for recent lifetime events, consistent with the notion that recent event memory may be particularly intertwined with episodic memory. At the same time, individuals with medial temporal lobe lesions showed more subtle impairments in their ability to date pre-birth and remote lifetime events precisely. Together, these findings suggest that the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe structures are important for representational precision of semantic memories regardless of their remoteness.

The reminiscence bump and the self: evidence from five studies on positive and negative memories

ABSTRACT A plethora of studies have shown that people persistently remember public and personal events experienced during adolescence and early adulthood, particularly with a positive valence. In five studies, we investigate the reminiscence bump (RB) for positive and negative memories of public events (Studies 1 and 2), private events (Study 3), music-related events (Study 4), and cross-cultural memory differences (i.e., China and US) (Study 5). Participants retrieved either one positive or one negative memory, indicated their Age of Encoding, and provided secondary measures, i.e., memory vividness and rehearsal (Studies 1 and 3) and emotional intensity (Studies 2 and 4). About 10,000 memories were collected and positive memories appeared generally older than negative recollections, but the RB emerged for both positive and negative memories. Furthermore, the peak was earlier for positive memories of public events (<15 years old) than for negative memories (20–40 years), while no differences were found for private events or music-related experiences (15–25 years). Chinese had their RB later than US respondents. Finally, autobiographical recollections have moderate to low associations with secondary measures of phenomenological features of memory. These findings are consistent with the identity-formation theory, providing additional and important information on the development of the Self.

Exploring mechanisms that affect retrograde memory for public events in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: A longitudinal update.

Here, we examined mechanisms that affect retrograde memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI) as a function of longitudinal clinical outcome. 8 a-MCI who converted to Alzheimer's dementia (AD) during the subsequent 3-year follow-up (converter a-MCI) and 10 a-MCI who remained clinically stable during the same period (stable a-MCI) were compared at the baseline evaluation (i.e., when they were diagnosed as a-MCI) using a remote memory questionnaire for public events that allows disentangling the differential contribution of storage and retrieval mechanisms to performance accuracy. Results suggest that deficits in remote memory are primarily explained by impaired retrieval abilities in stable a-MCI and by impaired storage in converter-to-AD a-MCI. This distinction between retrograde amnesia due to defective trace utilisation in stable a-MCI and trace storage in converter a-MCI is consistent with the temporal unfolding of declining anterograde memory over the course of disease progression to AD.

Memory for public events in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: The role of hippocampus and ventro-medial prefrontal cortex.

Current theories assume that retrograde memory deficits for semantic information in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are temporally graded and partially sparing most remote memories. Moreover, these models assume a prevalent role of the hippocampus in early phases of memory consolidation and of the prefrontal mesial neocortical areas in permanent consolidation of traces. To explore the relationship between hippocampus and memory accuracy for the most recent public events and between the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and memory accuracy irrespective of the memory age, we investigated in aMCI patients the retrograde memory for public events and its relationship with grey matter volume reductions in the hippocampus and vmPFC. 18 aMCI patients and 13 healthy subjects (HS) underwent a modified version of the Famous Events questionnaire (FEq) to assess their memory performance for public events. Patients underwent 3T-MRI scanning to assess correlations between FEq's scores and grey matter volumes. aMCI showed significantly reduced performances on FEq compared to HS in the recollection of most recent events, while no significant difference was observed for more remote memories, thus demonstrating a temporal gradient. Moreover, hippocampal volumes predicted accuracy scores for most recent, but not older, public events. Finally, an area in the subcallosal portion of the vmPFC, corresponding to BA32, predicted accuracy scores on FEq irrespective of the period examined. Pathological changes in a neural circuit linking hippocampal to medial prefrontal cortical regions are responsible for impaired recollection of retrograde memories in aMCI.

Using the phenomenology of memory for recent events to bridge the gap between episodic and semantic memory

Public events such as celebrity news, tragedies, and political events are widely experienced. Initially at least, memories of these events are "episodic" in nature; however, these events are also stored in associative networks similar to the semantic organization of knowledge (N. R. Brown, 1990, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 119[3], 297-314). Thus, these memories provide a novel way of examining how episodically experienced events might become semanticized and integrated into the knowledge base. Younger and older adults rated their subjective memory strength for and answered questions about details of events occurring over the previous 12 years. Participants also rated their phenomenological experience using a modified remember/know paradigm, in which no instructions about usage of the terms were provided. Interestingly, remembered and known items were equal in terms of subjective strength. Know responses were highly accurate, and more so than remember responses. Older and younger adults performed similarly. Participants' own definitions of remember, know, and just familiar revealed that knowing is associated with retrieval from semantic memory, whereas remembering and just familiarity are more associated with event/episodic memory. These results suggest that memory for public events shares phenomenological features with both episodic/event memory and semantic memory. Public events thus allow researchers to examine the complex ways in which storage of novel information can be jointly maintained in both episodic and semantic memory.

How do we remember public events? Pioneering a new area of everyday memory research

Although most of us consume news reports about public events day by day, little is known about how memories of public events are remembered in everyday life. Across three studies, we examined voluntary (deliberately retrieved) and involuntary (spontaneously arising) public event memories by directly comparing them with voluntary and involuntary personal event memories. In particular, we examined the relative frequency of public event memories, correlations with individual differences measures, the emotional tone of remembered public events, phenomenological characteristics associated with remembering, and functions of public event memories. Against a background of replications of well-established findings from the autobiographical memory literature, several novel findings on public event memories emerged: Public event memories arose both deliberately and spontaneously in daily life, but they were less frequent and less positive than memories of personal events. Similar to personal memories, frequency estimates for involuntary public event memories correlated significantly with individual differences measures of daydreaming as well as depressive and PTSD symptoms. The phenomenological characteristics of public event memories showed large differences to personal event memories. For example, they were judged to be more emotionally negative, less specific, less vivid and to come with a lower sense of reliving. Moreover, public event memories seemed to predominantly serve a social function. The results suggest that deliberate and involuntary memory retrieval of public events in daily life may support the formation and maintenance of collective memories.

Deepfake false memories

ABSTRACT Machine-learning has enabled the creation of “deepfake videos”; highly-realistic footage that features a person saying or doing something they never did. In recent years, this technology has become more widespread and various apps now allow an average social-media user to create a deepfake video which can be shared online. There are concerns about how this may distort memory for public events, but to date no evidence to support this. Across two experiments, we presented participants (N = 682) with fake news stories in the format of text, text with a photograph or text with a deepfake video. Though participants rated the deepfake videos as convincing, dangerous, and unethical, and some participants did report false memories after viewing deepfakes, the deepfake video format did not consistently increase false memory rates relative to the text-only or text-with-photograph conditions. Further research is needed, but the current findings suggest that while deepfake videos can distort memory for public events, they may not always be more effective than simple misleading text.

The good old days and the bad old days: evidence for a valence-based dissociation between personal and public memory

ABSTRACT How does memory for the public past differ from memory for the personal past? Across five experiments (N = 457), we found that memories of the personal past were characterised by a positivity bias, whereas memories of the public past were characterised by a negativity bias. This valence-based dissociation emerged regardless of how far back participants recounted the personal and public past, whether or not participants were asked to think about significant events, how much time participants were given to retrieve relevant personal and public memories, and also generalised across various demographic categories, including gender, age, and political affiliation. Along with recent work demonstrating a similar dissociation in the context of future thinking, our findings suggest that personal and public event cognition fundamentally differ in terms of access to emotionally salient events. Direct comparisons between personal and public event memory should represent a fruitful avenue for research on event cognition.

Cognitive integration of personal or public events affects mental health: Examining memory networks in a case of natural flooding disaster.

The purpose of this research was to examine whether memories of personal or public events could affect mental health through the way those memories are integrated in memory networks. Participants from the general population (N=224, age mean=36.62years, 74% female) were either directly or indirectly personally affected by a natural flooding disaster with moderate consequences or had simply learned about it. A prospective design (during the floods and two months later) was used to examine the impact that such a personal or public event memory could have on their mental health. Results showed that flood-affected individuals reported poorer mental health compared to the unaffected. However, both affected and unaffected individuals who had encoded a current floods-related event in memory as need satisfying or who had embedded such an event in need satisfying memory networks showed better mental health over time. These results held after controlling for the effect of various demographics and dispositional emotion regulation styles. Simply learning about public events can impact mental health through the way those events are integrated in memory, which appears as a critical individual difference.

Atypical non-progressive semantic impairment following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a patient with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia: A case report

Objective: A case report of a 74-year-old male presenting with an atypical multimodal semantic impairment. The patient was diagnosed with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) for which he received allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) due to disease progression. Following BMT, he developed a sudden onset of semantic difficulties that have remained unchanged for eight years. No other cognitive functions have been affected and his activities of daily living remain fully preserved.Method: The patient was assessed at our neuropsychology unit with six neuropsychological evaluations over an 8-years follow-up period following BMT. Additional semantic tests were administered during the last three evaluations. Four MRI scans (at age 62, 66, 69 and 74) and 18F-FDG PET (at age 74) were obtained.Results: The patient presents a multimodal semantic impairment, including naming impairment, visual agnosia, prosopoanomia, associative prosopagnosia, topographical disorientation and impaired retrograde memory for public events. MRI scans and 18F-FDG PET revealed bilateral symmetrical atrophy (temporal > frontal) and inferior bilateral temporal lobe hypometabolism, respectively. Neuroradiological examination was unremarkable prior to BMT.Conclusion: Clinical diagnosis remains a challenge given the focal and stable nature of his deficits. We hypothesize that the BMT procedure might have resulted in the temporal lobe damage and subsequent semantic impairment. We recommend obtaining a thorough neuropsychological evaluation of patients who receive allogenic BMT, both prior to and following transplant.

Memory for Public Events in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: The Importance of Rehearsal.

Ribot's law refers to the better preservation of remote memories compared with recent ones that presumably characterizes retrograde amnesia. Even if Ribot-type temporal gradient has been extensively studied in retrograde amnesia, particularly in Alzheimer's disease (AD), this pattern has not been consistently found. One explanation for these results may be that rehearsal frequency rather than remoteness accounts for the better preservation of these memories. Thus, the aim of present study was to address this question by studying retrograde semantic memory in subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) (n = 20), mild AD (n = 20) and in healthy older controls (HC; n = 19). In order to evaluate the impact of repetition as well as the impact of remoteness, we used a test assessing memory for enduring and transient public events that occurred in the recent and remote past. Results show no clear temporal gradient across time periods (1960-1975; 1976-1990; 1991-2005; 2006-2011), but a better performance was observed in all three groups for enduring compared with transient events. Moreover, although deficits were globally found in both patients groups compared with HC, more specific analyses revealed that aMCI patients were only impaired on transient events while AD patients were impaired on both transient and enduring events. Exploratory analyses also revealed a tendency suggesting preservation of remote transient events in aMCI. These findings are discussed with regards to memory consolidation models.

Suturing The Memories Of The Liberation War Of 1971: The Narrative Poetics Of Sorayya Khan’s Noor

This essay will engage in the dialectics of memory and (dis/re)membering through its questioning of the basic assumption that memory helps one to understand an event holistically. Memory plays a pivotal role in Sorayya Khan’s debut novel, Noor (2003; revised ed. 2006), shaping the identities of the main characters, both victims and perpetrators. Through a close reading of the novel in relation to the Liberation War of 1971 and the recent emphasis on the ‘memory boom’, the author will examine the theoretical and textual nexus between history and memory, tracing the shift in analytical focus from the historical to the psychological and how personal memory of public events is transcribed into the larger collective memory of the nation-state. The analysis of the novel will demonstrate how the trauma of 1971 resides both within and outside the individual.

Preserved anterograde and remote memory in drug-responsive temporal lobe epileptic patients

PurposeTo investigate cognition, particularly anterograde and remote memory, in patients suffering from unilateral drug-responsive mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) patients and to compare their performance with that observed in drug-resistant mTLE patients. MethodsSixteen drug-responsive mTLE patients, with only infrequent seizures in their lifetime, were matched for demographic and clinical variables to 18 patients suffering from drug-resistant unilateral mTLE. A comprehensive neuropsychological examination, including baseline, anterograde memory tasks, and a large range of remote memory tests was carried out. ResultsPatients with drug-responsive epilepsy obtained average scores on every anterograde memory test. Although in general, they obtained lower scores than the healthy controls on remote memory tests, the differences failed to reach significance. Moreover, the drug-responsive group performed significantly better than the drug-resistant group on anterograde recall tests and an episodic autobiographical memory test. Performance was not significantly different between the patient groups in personal semantics or memory for public events. ConclusionOur results show that a mild clinical course of mTLE with no cognitive deficits can occur notwithstanding hippocampal sclerosis. The differences in cognitive function between the two groups are likely due to distinct pathophysiology of the underlying cause of epilepsy. Drug-resistant seizures and cognitive deficits may be the consequence of a more severe underlying cerebral process. Better understanding of the variety of pathogenesis of mTLE could help to answer this open question.

The reminiscence bump in autobiographical memory and for public events: A comparison across different cueing methods

The reminiscence bump has been found for both autobiographical memories and memories of public events. However, there have been few comparisons of the bump across each type of event. In the current study, therefore, we compared the bump for autobiographical memories versus the bump for memories of public events. We did so between-subjects, through two cueing methods administered within-subjects, the cue word method and the important memories method. For word-cued memories, we found a similar bump from ages 5 to 19 for both types of memories. However, the bump was more pronounced for autobiographical memories. For most important memories, we found a bump from ages 20 to 29 in autobiographical memory, but little discernible age pattern for public events. Rather, specific public events (e.g., the Fall of the Berlin Wall) dominated recall, producing a chronological distribution characterised by spikes in citations according to the years these events occurred. Follow-up analyses suggested that the bump in most important autobiographical memories was a function of the cultural life script. Our findings did not yield support for any of the dominant existing accounts of the bump as underlying the bump in word-cued memories.

Also No Support for the Youth Bias: Reply to Koppel and Berntsen

SummaryIn this reply, I discuss three reasons why the results of Koppel and Berntsen's original study and my study do not offer support for the youth bias. First, participants in Koppel and Berntsen's original study could have used their own memories of public events to indicate how old a typical person would most likely be when the most important public event during that person's life would occur. Second, the absence of the age effect in the second experiment seemed to be caused by the lack of power, making it unlikely that the expectations about the timing of important public events are shared by younger and older participants. Third, participants in my study expected that more events would occur in the period in which a prototypical person would be between 0 and 10 years old than in the period in which the person would be between 11 and 30 years old. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

The influence of seizure frequency on anterograde and remote memory in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

PurposeSeizure frequency, although considered as an important factor in memory impairment in mesial temporal epilepsy (mTLE), is mostly confounded with other clinical variables, making it unclear to what extent recurrent seizures actually interfere with memory. The present study focuses on the influence of seizure frequency, studied as a main variable, on anterograde and remote memory. MethodsSeventy-one patients with unilateral mTLE were divided into two subgroups, as a function of their seizure frequency (monthly versus weekly seizures). Other seizure-related variables were controlled, namely, lateralisation and type of lesion, age at onset, years of ongoing seizures, etiologic factors, and number of AED. A comprehensive neuropsychological examination, including anterograde memory (verbal and non verbal recognition memory and free recall) tasks together with a large range of tests exploring different domains of remote memory, was carried out. ResultsDespite similar results on IQ, executive functions and attention, the low seizure-frequency group performed significantly better than the high seizure-frequency group on anterograde memory tests. Loss of autobiographical episodes and public-events memory, concomitant with spared personal semantic knowledge, was observed in both patient groups compared with healthy subjects. A worsening effect of high seizure frequency was recorded for autobiographical incidents and news-events memory, but unexpectedly, not for memory for famous people. ConclusionThe study of seizure frequency as the main variable leads us to suggest that high seizure frequency, itself, potentiates the effects of mesial temporal lobe damage on episodic memory deficits.

Is There a Cultural Life Script for Public Events?

SummaryThe reminiscence bump is the higher prevalence of autobiographical memories from adolescence and early adulthood. The reminiscence bump has also been found in the memory for public events, which could, as recently has been suggested, be explained by cultural life scripts. Life scripts are culturally shared knowledge about the order and timing of life events in an idealized life course. They are examined by categorizing which events are expected to occur in a prototypical person's life and when these events are supposed to occur. The present study found, however, no support for cultural life scripts as an explanation for the reminiscence bump in the memory for public events. Most public events were expected to occur before the reminiscence bump period. Although there was some agreement about which public events are likely to happen in a prototypical person's life, there was little agreement about when these events are supposed to occur. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Construction and updating of a public events questionnaire for repeated measures longitudinal studies

Impairments of retrospective memory and cases of retrograde amnesia are often seen in clinical settings. A measure of the proportion of memories retained over a specified time can be useful in clinical situations and public events questionnaires may be valuable in this respect. However, consistency of retention of public events memory has rarely been studied in the same participants. In addition, when used in a research context, public events questionnaires require updating to ensure questions are of equivalent age with respect to when the test is taken. This paper describes an approach to constructing and updating a Public Events Questionnaire (PEQ) for use with a sample that is recruited and followed-up over a long time-period. Internal consistency, parallel-form reliability, test-retest reliability, and secondary validity analyses were examined for three versions of the PEQ that were updated every 6 months. Versions 2 and 3 of the questionnaire were reliable across and within versions and for recall and recognition. Change over time was comparable across each version of the PEQ. These results show that PEQs can be regularly updated in a standardized fashion to allow use throughout studies with long recruitment periods.

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.

Supplemental Material for Retrograde Memory for Public Events in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Its Relationship to Anterograde Memory and Neuroanatomy

Supplemental Material for Retrograde Memory for Public Events in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Its Relationship to Anterograde Memory and Neuroanatomy