Field perspective deficit for positive memories characterizes autobiographical memory in euthymic depressed patients

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretxu Bergouignan ◽  
Cédric Lemogne ◽  
Aurélie Foucher ◽  
Estelle Longin ◽  
Damien Vistoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Field Perspective ◽  
Positive Memories

A Study of Autobiographical Memories in Depressed and Nondepressed Elderly Individuals

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Anderson Yang ◽  
Lynn P. Rehm
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Positive Change ◽  
Autobiographical Memories ◽  
Elderly Individuals ◽  
Affective Tone ◽  
Mood Congruence ◽  
Current Mood ◽  
Positive Memories ◽  
Looking Back

An autobiographical memory task was used to study memory processes and depression in elderly individuals. Twenty-seven nondepressed and twenty-seven depressed elderly participants recalled thirty memories. Each memory was self-rated for happiness versus sadness and the degree of importance of the event at the time the event occurred (i.e., “then”) and looking back on the event (“now”). Nondepressed participants perceived greater positive change in affective tone between “then” and “now” ratings. Depressed participants recalled more memories rated as sad “now” than nondepressed, and perceived negative and positive memories to become more neutral than nondepressed participants. These results are consistent with a mood congruence hypothesis, in that participants recalled more memories affectively consistent with current mood, and a self-enhancement view of reminiscing, such that recalling memories evaluated as happier was associated with less depression.

Affect and accessibility

1983 ◽  
Vol 302 (1110) ◽  
pp. 403-412 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Depressed Mood ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Current Mood ◽  
Patients Experience ◽  
Positive Memories ◽  
Negative Memories ◽  
Experimentally Induced

Depressed patients experience thoughts with predominantly negative content. This could be because depressed mood increases the accessibility, or availability, of negative memories relative to that of positive memories. Investigations of the effects of experimentally induced and naturally occurring variations in mood on the recall of memories of personal experiences found results consistent with this suggestion; in depressed mood the latency of retrieval of positive memories was increased, the probability of retrieval of positive memories was decreased, and the probability of retrieval of negative memories was increased. The recall of certain positive and negative words was also found to be differentially affected by mood at recall. It is hypothesized that the effects of current mood on accessibility depend on the extent to which the events to which memories relate have previously been associated with different moods. Differences in the effects of mood on accessibility consistent with this suggestion have been obtained.

scholarly journals Autobiographical memory: A candidate latent vulnerability mechanism for psychiatric disorder following childhood maltreatment

2017 ◽  
Vol 211 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamon J. McCrory ◽  
Vanessa B. Puetz ◽  
Eleanor A. Maguire ◽  
Andrea Mechelli ◽  
Amy Palmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Salience Network ◽  
Cue Words ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Memories ◽  
Negative Memories

BackgroundAltered autobiographical memory (ABM) functioning has been implicated in the pathogenesis of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder and may represent one mechanism by which childhood maltreatment elevates psychiatric risk.AimsTo investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment on ABM functioning.MethodThirty-four children with documented maltreatment and 33 matched controls recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally valenced cue words during functional magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsChildren with maltreatment experience showed reduced hippocampal and increased middle temporal and parahippocampal activation during positive ABM recall compared with peers. During negative ABM recall they exhibited increased amygdala activation, and greater amygdala connectivity with the salience network.ConclusionsChildhood maltreatment is associated with altered ABM functioning, specifically reduced activation in areas encoding specification of positive memories, and greater activation of the salience network for negative memories. This pattern may confer latent vulnerability to future depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Autobiographical memory in depression

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 689-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. G. Williams ◽  
J. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Suicidal Patients ◽  
Cue Words

SynopsisRecent 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.

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

2013 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Lemogne ◽  
Frédéric Limosin ◽  
Philippe Fossati
Keyword(s):  
Major Depression ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Memory Impairment ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Cue Words ◽  
Positive Memories ◽  
Shed Light

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

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