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.

Match between Cue and Memory Valence during Autobiographical Memory Recall in Depression

2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kymberly D. Young ◽  
Kristine Erickson ◽  
Wayne C. Drevets
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Memory Recall ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Autobiographical Memories ◽  
Affective Valence ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Cue Words ◽  
Positive Memories ◽  
Positive Stimuli

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with deficits in recalling specific autobiographical memories. The current study goal was to assess whether emotionally valenced cue words led to memories of similar emotional valence and whether this pattern differed between 12 unmedicated MDD and 14 healthy control participants. Both groups recalled autobiographical memories in response to positive, negative, and neutral cue words. Positive and neutral cues prompted recall of positive memories less often in the MDD group than in the controls. MDD participants recalled fewer specific and more categorical memories than controls; however, the proportion of specific memories didn't differ across memory valences. The MDD group had fewer specific memories in response to positive and neutral cues than the controls. These results suggest that the MDD participants may process positive stimuli differently than healthy controls and that their recall of specific autobiographical memories is impaired, regardless of the affective valence of those memories.

scholarly journals Autobiographical memory in non-amnesic alcohol-dependent patients

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 1707-1715 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARNAUD D'ARGEMBEAU ◽  
MARTIAL VAN DER LINDEN ◽  
PAUL VERBANCK ◽  
XAVIER NOËL
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Chronic Alcohol Abuse ◽  
Korsakoff Syndrome ◽  
Frontal Lobe Function ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cue Words ◽  
Memory Characteristics

Background. Chronic alcohol abuse is associated with a wide range of cognitive deficits. However, little is known about memory for real-life events (autobiographical memory) in non-amnesic alcoholic patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) non-amnesic alcoholics' ability to recall specific autobiographical memories and (b) their subjective experience when they access specific memories.Method. Twenty non-amnesic (without Korsakoff syndrome) recently detoxified alcoholics and 20 healthy controls completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), which assesses the frequency of specific (versus general) memories recalled in response to cue words, and the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ), which assesses subjective experience (e.g. the amount of sensory and contextual details experienced) when remembering specific events.Results. Alcoholic patients recalled specific memories less frequently and general memories more frequently than healthy controls. Nevertheless, when a specific past event was accessed, alcoholic patients subjectively experienced as many sensory and contextual details as controls.Conclusions. These findings suggest that non-amnesic alcoholics have difficulties strategically accessing event-specific autobiographical knowledge, which might result from changes in frontal lobe function that are associated with alcoholism.

Effects of acute cortisol administration on autobiographical memory in patients with major depression and healthy controls

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Schlosser ◽  
Oliver Tobias Wolf ◽  
Silvia Carvalho Fernando ◽  
Kirsten Riedesel ◽  
Christian Otte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depression ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Healthy Controls

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.

GR-mediated FKBP5 RNA induction differentially influenced by weight in major depression and healthy controls

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (06) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Menke ◽  
S Kloiber ◽  
J Best ◽  
M Rex-Haffner ◽  
M Uhr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depression ◽  
Healthy Controls

Hippocampal and amygdala volume changes in patients with major depression and healthy controls during a three year follow-up

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (05) ◽  
Author(s):  
TS Frodl ◽  
T Zetzsche ◽  
G Schmitt ◽  
T Schlossbauer ◽  
MW Jäger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depression ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Amygdala Volume

Introduction to the cognitive abilities account for the reminiscence bump in the temporal distribution of autobiographical memory

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve M. J. Janssen
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Reminiscence Bump ◽  
Significant Events ◽  
Cue Words

People tend to recall more specific personal events from adolescence and early adulthood than from other lifetime periods, a finding known as the reminiscence bump. Several explanations have suggested that events from the reminiscence bump are especially emotional, important, or positive, but studies using cue words have not found support for these claims. An alternative account postulates that cognitive abilities function optimally in adolescence and early adulthood, which may cause more memories to be stored in those lifetime periods. Although other studies have previously discussed the cognitive abilities account as a possible explanation for the reminiscence bump, it was only recently shown that cognitive abilities are indeed related to autobiographical memory performance. When this recent finding is combined with previous findings that cognitive abilities as well as autobiographical memory function optimally in adolescence and early adulthood, they suggest that the cognitive abilities account is a promising explanation for the reminiscence bump in the temporal distribution of word-cued memories. However, because the account does not aim to explain the reminiscence bump in the distribution of highly significant events, it should be regarded as complementary to the existing accounts.

Specificity and detail in autobiographical memory retrieval: A multi-site (re)investigation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Hallford ◽  
Tom Joseph Barry ◽  
Eline Belmans ◽  
Filip Raes ◽  
Sam Dax ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Severe Depression ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Autobiographical Memories ◽  
Memory Specificity ◽  
Specific Event ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Cue Words

This investigation examined conflicting suggestions regarding the association between problems retrieving specific autobiographical memories and the tendency to retrieve the details of these memories. We also examined whether these tendencies are differentially related to depression symptoms. U.S., Belgian, Hong Kong and Japanese participants retrieved memories related to cue words. Responses were coded for if they referred to a specific event (i.e., an event lasting less than 24 hours) and their details (What? Where? Who?). Across sites, and in meta-analyses, the retrieval of more specific memories was associated with retrieval of more details. Memories that were specific included more detail than non-specific memories. Across sites, retrieval of more specific memories and more detail was associated with less severe depression symptoms. Episodic specificity and detailedness are related but separable constructs. Future investigations of autobiographical memory specificity, and methods for alleviating problematic specificity, should consider measures of episodic detailedness.

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