Specific Autobiographical Memories In Response Research Articles

Neurophysiological correlates of disorder-related autobiographical memory in anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by an overgeneralization of food/body-related autobiographical memories (AM). This is regarded as an emotion regulation strategy with adverse long-term effects implicated in disorder maintenance and treatment resistance. Therefore, we aimed to examine neural correlates of food/body-related AM-recall in AN. Twenty-nine female patients with AN and 30 medication-free age-sex-matched normal-weight healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while recalling AMs in response to food/body-related and neutral cue words. To control for general knowledge retrieval, participants engaged in a semantic generation and riser detection task. In comparison to HC, patients with AN generated fewer and less specific AMs in response to food/body-related words, but not for neutral cue words. Group comparisons revealed reduced activation in regions associated with self-referential processing and memory retrieval (precuneus and angular gyrus) during the retrieval of specific food/body-related AM in patients with AN. Brain connectivity in regions associated with memory functioning and executive control was reduced in patients with AN during the retrieval of specific food/body-related AM. Finally, resting-state functional connectivity analysis revealed no differences between groups, arguing against a general underlying disconnection of brain networks implicated in memory and emotional processing in AN. These results indicate impaired neural processing of food/body-related AM in AN, with a reduced involvement of regions involved in self-referential processing. Our findings are discussed as possible neuronal correlates of emotional avoidance in AN and provide new insights of AN-pathophysiology underscoring the importance of targeting dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies during treatment.

Autobiographical memory specificity in response to emotion pictorial cues among non‐clinical participants

The objective of the current study was to investigate whether emotion pictorial cues increase memory specificity among non‐clinical participants. Undergraduate university students were presented with emotion word and pictorial cues on a prompted and non‐prompted version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). In comparison to pictorial cues, participants retrieved significantly fewer specific autobiographical memories in response to word cues on the prompted AMT; however, there was no significant difference on the non‐prompted AMT. Participants also retrieved significantly fewer specific memories in response to both word and pictorial cues on the non‐prompted AMT compared with the prompted AMT. These results provide support for the hypothesis that among non‐clinical participants, visual cues increase memory specificity over and above emotion. Further research is needed to investigate ways in which memory specificity can be increased and the use of imagery may be a promising avenue.

Performance in Autobiographical Memory of Older Adults with Depression Symptoms

SummaryThe aim of this study was to compare the performance in the Autobiographical Memory Test in older adults with high scores on depression symptoms (HDS) compared with a matched group with low scores on depression symptoms (LDS) according to the clinical cut‐off of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Participants were asked to generate specific autobiographical memories in response to a series of positive and negative cue words. Latencies of responses for each item were also scored. LDS participants showed a higher proportion of specific memories than HDS participants. Latencies of responses to positive and negative cues were greater for HDS than LDS. Specific autobiographical memory was positively associated with Life Satisfaction. Cognitive emotional changes in the function of memory with age are suggested as a possible explanation for the findings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Imagining the future in Complicated Grief

Complicated Grief (CG) is a chronic and debilitating consequence of bereavement. Although sharing features with depression and anxiety, CG is associated with independent negative health outcomes. Despite these significant health costs, relatively little is known about the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of CG. The ability to envisage the future is important for adaptive functioning. This study investigates future-related thinking in CG. Twenty-one individuals with CG and 24 bereaved individuals without CG were asked to imagine specific events that may take place in their future and recall specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words, and complete a personal goals task. CG participants were less specific in their imagining of future positive events and were more likely to imagine future events relating to their loss. The extent to which individuals were able to imagine a specific future event was significantly correlated with recalling specific memories. The tendency to imagine loss-related events in the future was associated with holding grief-related goals. These results are consistent with propositions of the self-memory system model of autobiographical memory and shed light on factors that may maintain grieving in people affected by CG.

Impaired autobiographical memory in complicated grief

This study investigated the relationship between autobiographical memory and goals in complicated grief (CG). Twenty-four individuals with CG and 21 bereaved individuals without CG completed an autobiographical memory task and a personal goals task. CG participants were more likely to recall memories related to their loss, particularly in response to negative cues. There was a positive relationship between the proportion of loss-related memories recalled and the proportion of grief-related goals held by individuals after controlling for symptom level. Individuals with CG also showed impaired retrieval of specific autobiographical memories in response to both positive and negative cues. These results suggest that CG is characterised by impaired and biased retrieval of specific autobiographical memories. These patterns are consistent with propositions stemming from the self-memory models of autobiographical memory.

A preliminary investigation of the effect of hypomanic personality on the specificity and speed of autobiographical memory recall

There is some evidence that patients with bipolar disorder recall more overgeneral than specific autobiographical memories, a pattern widely reported in depression. However, there are also theoretical arguments (Barnard, Watkins, & Ramponi, 2006) suggesting that experiential processing should predominate during mania/hypomania, with an associated prediction of an increase in specific rather than overgeneral memories. This hypothesis was explicitly tested using the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). The specificity and speed of autobiographical recollection was compared for those with high or low levels of hypomanic personality as indexed by the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS). High HPS scorers recalled specific autobiographical memories in response to unpleasant cues more frequently and faster than low scorers. These results provide partial support for the hypothesis, but only for unpleasant cues.

The endorsement of dysfunctional attitudes is associated with an impaired retrieval of specific autobiographical memories in response to matching cues

Two studies investigated a hypothesis of Dalgleish et al. (2003) that overgeneral memory may arise from matching between task cues and dysfunctional attitudes or schemas. In the first study, 111 euthymic patients with at least two previous major depressive episodes completed the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: Form A (DAS-A) and the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). In the second study, 82 patients with a borderline personality disorder completed the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ) and the same version of the AMT. In both studies, patients retrieved less specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words that matched highly endorsed attitudes or schemas. These results suggest that an impaired retrieval of specific memories may be the result of certain cues activating generic, higher-order mental representations.

Trauma and autobiographical memory specificity in depressed inpatients

Research on autobiographical memory has shown that clinical depression is associated with a difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words. This study examined the relation between lack of autobiographical memory specificity and self-reported trauma in a group of depressed adults ( N=23). In addition to the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986) participants completed a number of questionnaires assessing the presence of traumatic experiences in the past, level of depression and neuroticism. The number of specific responses was not related to depression severity, but was significantly associated with the presence and severity of reported physical abuse. Participants who had been victim of physical abuse were less specific than participants who had not been confronted with such physical adversities. The results are discussed in the context of a functional hypothesis about the developmental relations between memory specificity, trauma and depression.

Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Trauma in Inpatient Adolescents

Investigated the relation between memory specificity and self-reported trauma, depressive symptoms, and other emotional characteristics in a group of adolescent inpatients. Research with adults has shown that clinical depression is associated with a difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words, and this pattern of overgeneral memory is related to the prognosis of depression. Research has also shown a clear positive association between self-reported trauma and overgeneral memory. This study's results showed that higher levels of trauma-both in terms of total number and in terms of severity or related distress-were associated with reduced autobiographical memory specificity (AM). None of the other emotional variables, such as depression, anxiety, worry, hopelessness, or subjective stress, were significantly related to the retrieval of specific memories. The results are reconcilable with Williams' (1996) developmental idea that a pattern of overgeneral AM retrieval originates in childhood trauma as a way of regulating affect.

Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Trauma in Inpatient Adolescents

Investigated the relation between memory specificity and self-reported trauma, depressive symptoms, and other emotional characteristics in a group of adolescent inpatients. Research with adults has shown that clinical depression is associated with a difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words, and this pattern of overgeneral memory is related to the prognosis of depression. Research has also shown a clear positive association between self-reported trauma and overgeneral memory. This study's results showed that higher levels of trauma-both in terms of total number and in terms of severity or related distress-were associated with reduced autobiographical memory specificity (AM). None of the other emotional variables, such as depression, anxiety, worry, hopelessness, or subjective stress, were significantly related to the retrieval of specific memories. The results are reconcilable with Williams' (1996) developmental idea that a pattern of overgeneral AM retrieval originates in childhood trauma as a way of regulating affect.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: autobiographical memory predicts the course of depressive affect after nCPAP therapy.

Although nCPAP therapy has proven to be efficient at removing symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), recovery from depression frequently remains unsatisfactory. Other studies have shown that recall of autobiographical memories (AM) is a psychological vulnerability marker for depression, and also have shown its predictive power for the course of depression. It is therefore hypothesized that AM also predict the course of depressive affect in OSAS patients. Fifty-four consecutively admitted OSAS patients received standard nCPAP therapy. Specificity of AM assessed at the beginning of treatment was used as a predictor in a regression analysis, and the extent of recovery from depression over a follow-up period of between six to nine weeks served as the criterion variable. The results supported the hypothesis that patients who were able to recall more specific AM in response to positively valenced cue words showed a more substantial recovery from depression. This has important treatment implications.

Specific autobiographical memory following hypnotically induced mood state

This study investigated the impact of hypnotically induced mood on the specificity of autobiographical memory. High (n = 24) and low (n = 21) hypnotizable participants were administered a hypnotic induction for sad, neutral, or happy mood and were asked to retrieve specific autobiographical memories in response to positive and negative cue words. Whereas high hypnotizable participants in the sad condition provided fewer specific memories in response to positive rather than negative cues, those in the neutral and happy conditions responded similarly to positive and negative cues. Findings suggest that impaired recall of specific memories may be mediated by state factors associated with sad mood. These results point to the utility of hypnotic mood induction as a means to experimentally investigate the relationship between mood and autobiographical memory.

Experimental approaches to cognitive abnormality in posttraumatic stress disorder

During the past decade, experimental psychopathologists have increasingly applied the concepts and methods of cognitive psychology to elucidate information-processing abnormalities in people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These studies have shown that individuals with PTSD: (a) selectively process trauma-relevant material in the emotional Stroop paradigm; (b) exhibit enhanced memory for material related to trauma in explicit and perhaps implicit tests; (c) exhibit difficulty forgetting trauma words during directed forgetting; and (d) exhibit problems retrieving specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words, instead recalling “overgeneral” memories. These studies suggest that experimental methods can complement traditional, self-report methods for studying cognitive disturbances in PTSD.

Emotional priming of autobiographical memory in post-traumatic stress disorder

Abstract Vietnam combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with other psychiatric disorders, or with no disorder participated in an autobiographical memory experiment. Half of the subjects in each group viewed a combat-relevant videotape, whereas the others viewed a neutral videotape. Immediately after this emotional priming manipulation, subjects were asked to retrieve specific autobiographical memories in response to a series of neutral, positive, and negative cue words. The results revealed that PTSD patients experienced difficulty retrieving specific autobiographical memories, especially after having viewed the combat videotape. Overgeneral memory appears to characterise PTSD as much as it does depression, and a relative inability to retrieve specific autobiographical memories, especially of positive valence, may contribute to the maintenance of PTSD.