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Simpson S, Eskandaripour M, Levine B. Effects of Healthy and Neuropathological Aging on Autobiographical Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Using the Autobiographical Interview. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2023; 78:1617-1624. [PMID: 37224530 PMCID: PMC10561892 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbad077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES A meta-analytic review was conducted to assess the effects of healthy aging, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) on naturalistic autobiographical memory using the Autobiographical Interview, a widely used, standardized assessment that derives measures of internal (episodic) and external (nonepisodic) details from freely recalled autobiographical narratives. METHODS A comprehensive literature search identified 21 aging, 6 MCI, and 7 AD studies (total N = 1,556 participants). Summary statistics for internal and external details for each comparison (younger vs older or MCI/AD vs age-matched comparison groups) and effect size statistics were extracted and summarized using Hedges' g (random effects model) and adjusted for the presence of publication bias. RESULTS The pattern of reduced internal and elevated external details in aging was robust and consistent across nearly all 21 studies. MCI and-to a greater extent-AD were associated with reduced internal details, whereas the external detail elevation faded with MCI and AD. Although there was evidence of publication bias on reporting of internal detail effects, these effects remained robust after correction. DISCUSSION The canonical changes to episodic memory observed in aging and neurodegenerative disease are mirrored in the free recall of real-life events. Our findings indicate that the onset of neuropathology overwhelms the capacity of older adults to draw upon distributed neural systems to elaborate on past experiences, including both episodic details specific to identified events and nonepisodic content characteristic of healthy older adults' autobiographical narratives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Simpson
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mona Eskandaripour
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brian Levine
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Agostino C, Sheldon S. Aging alters the details recollected from emotional narratives. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, AND COGNITION. SECTION B, AGING, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2023; 30:34-52. [PMID: 34420482 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2021.1962792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Although it is known that aging impairs episodic memory, the precise effect of aging on emotional memory is not fully understood. In this study, younger and older adults listened to narratives that contained general and emotional (positive, negative, or neutral) details as they viewed related images. When participants later recalled the narratives, both age groups remembered more emotional details from the negative than the positive or neutral narratives. Interestingly, the enhanced recall for the negative narratives came with a reduced ability to remember the associated images for both younger and older adults. For all narrative types, older adults recalled a similar number of general but fewer emotional details than younger adults. Although there were no age-specific emotional effects, memory functioning of the older adults related to better recall of the positive narratives and associated images. These results provide insight into the similarities and differences in how younger and older adults encode and retrieve complex emotional memories.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Fenerci C, Gurguryan L, Spreng RN, Sheldon S. Comparing neural activity during autobiographical memory retrieval between younger and older adults: An ALE meta-analysis. Neurobiol Aging 2022; 119:8-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2022.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Badham SP, Justice LV, Jones LN, Myers JAC. An older adult advantage in autobiographical recall. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, AND COGNITION. SECTION B, AGING, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2022; 30:555-581. [PMID: 35422185 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2022.2063789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
This pre-registered online study aimed to measure the effect of environmental support on age-differences in autobiographical memory alongside memory for images. Young and older adults reported autobiographical memories about which they regularly thought (high environmental support through practice) or that were experimentally cued to be mundane (low environmental support). The support manipulation was also applied to descriptions of images that were produced whilst images remained on screen (high support) or produced from memory (low support). In line with existing theory, support disproportionately benefitted older adults in the quantity of information produced. However, analysis of the autobiographical descriptions showed no age deficit in reporting episodic detail, in contrast to much of the existing literature. A second group of young and older adults also evaluated the descriptions produced, and older adults' descriptions were consistently rated as higher quality than young adults' descriptions across several dimensions, such as vividness and clarity. An unplanned meta-analysis was conducted to assess if a publication bias existed in the literature favoring the reporting of age-deficits in producing episodic detail in autobiographical memory: there was no evidence for a bias and the modal result of age deficits was generally supported. A key distinction is that the current study was conducted online - evidence is presented to argue that older adults may perform better at autobiographical memory tasks outside the lab.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucy V Justice
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham UK
| | - Lauren N Jones
- NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham UK
| | - James A C Myers
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Mair A, Poirier M, Conway MA. Age effects in autobiographical memory depend on the measure. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259279. [PMID: 34714869 PMCID: PMC8555790 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies examining age effects in autobiographical memory have produced inconsistent results. This study examined whether a set of typical autobiographical memory measures produced equivalent results in a single participant sample. Five memory tests (everyday memory, autobiographical memory from the past year, autobiographical memory from age 11-17, word-cued autobiographical memory, and word-list recall) were administered in a single sample of young and older adults. There was significant variance in the tests' sensitivity to age: word-cued autobiographical memory produced the largest deficit in older adults, similar in magnitude to word-list recall. In contrast, older adults performed comparatively well on the other measures. The pattern of findings was broadly consistent with the results of previous investigations, suggesting that (1) the results of the different AM tasks are reliable, and (2) variable age effects in the autobiographical memory literature are at least partly due to the use of different tasks, which cannot be considered interchangeable measures of autobiographical memory ability. The results are also consistent with recent work dissociating measures of specificity and detail in autobiographical memory, and suggest that specificity is particularly sensitive to ageing. In contrast, detail is less sensitive to ageing, but is influenced by retention interval and event type. The extent to which retention interval and event type interact with age remains unclear; further research using specially designed autobiographical memory tasks could resolve this issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Mair
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Marie Poirier
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Martin A. Conway
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, United Kingdom
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Salmon K, Isler L, Jose P, Glynn R, Mitchell C, Dewhirst M, Buxton B, Gutenbrunner C, Reese E. Delving into the detail: Greater episodic detail in narratives of a critical life event predicts an increase in adolescent depressive symptoms across one year. Behav Res Ther 2021; 137:103798. [PMID: 33421894 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2019] [Revised: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/26/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Depressed people have reduced ability to recall specific autobiographical memories, yet the role of reduced memory specificity in the development of adolescent depression is unclear. Two reasons are the limited longitudinal studies with this age group and the dominant use of just one measure of memory specificity, the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986). In the current one-year longitudinal study, community adolescents (N = 132, M = 16.13 years at Time 1) wrote about a life turning point, and their narratives were coded with respect to the amount of episodic and semantic detail. Participants also completed an adapted version of the Minimal Instructions AMT. Greater episodic detail in young people's turning point narrative was positively associated with depressive symptoms separately at Times 1 and 2, and uniquely predicted increases in depressive symptoms across the year. A non-positive valence of the turning point resolution also positively predicted Time 2 depressive symptoms. In contrast, specificity as assessed by the AMT did not predict such an increase. The results suggest that episodic detail in highly self-relevant narratives may be a sensitive predictor of increases in adolescent depressive symptoms across time. We consider excessive self focus and retrieval style as potential explanations of our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Salmon
- Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand.
| | - Laina Isler
- Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Paul Jose
- Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Ruth Glynn
- Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
| | | | - Mary Dewhirst
- Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Belinda Buxton
- Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
| | | | - Elaine Reese
- University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Diamond NB, Armson MJ, Levine B. The Truth Is Out There: Accuracy in Recall of Verifiable Real-World Events. Psychol Sci 2020; 31:1544-1556. [DOI: 10.1177/0956797620954812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
How accurate is memory? Although people implicitly assume that their memories faithfully represent past events, the prevailing view in research is that memories are error prone and constructive. Yet little is known about the frequency of errors, particularly in memories for naturalistic experiences. Here, younger and older adults underwent complex real-world experiences that were nonetheless controlled and verifiable, freely recalling these experiences after days to years. As expected, memory quantity and the richness of episodic detail declined with increasing age and retention interval. Details that participants did recall, however, were highly accurate (93%–95%) across age and time. This level of accuracy far exceeded comparatively low estimations among memory scientists and other academics in a survey. These findings suggest that details freely recalled from one-time real-world experiences can retain high correspondence to the ground truth despite significant forgetting, with higher accuracy than expected given the emphasis on fallibility in the field of memory research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas B. Diamond
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Michael J. Armson
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
| | - Brian Levine
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto
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Taler V, Davidson PSR, Sheppard C, Gardiner J. A discourse-theoretic approach to story recall in aging and mild cognitive impairment. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2020; 28:762-780. [PMID: 32985351 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2020.1821865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Recall of story materials is a primary way to assess episodic memory. However, the standard scoring method may not be maximally sensitive to cognitive decline. We developed a set of 24 stories, and younger and older adults heard these stories and recalled them immediately and after a delay (Study 1). Twelve of these stories were then selected, and older adults and people with MCI completed immediate and delayed recall of these stories (Study 2). Responses were classified as veridical, gist, or distorted, and were scored by number of units and number of propositions recalled. Younger adults had higher veridical recall than older adults, and proposition-based scoring revealed higher gist recall in older than younger adults. Gist and distortion recall increased over time in older adults, but decreased in MCI. Using proposition-based scoring and distinguishing between veridical and gist responses may discriminate better between healthy older adults and people with MCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Taler
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.,Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Patrick S R Davidson
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.,Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Christine Sheppard
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.,Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Jessie Gardiner
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.,Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
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Wu Y, He Z, Jobson L. Maternal Reminiscing and Autobiographical Memory Features of Mother-Child Dyads in a Cross-Cultural Context. Child Dev 2020; 91:2160-2177. [PMID: 32757225 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Maternal reminiscing styles and mother-child memory features were examined in a cross-cultural context. Fifty-five Chinese (Guangzhou, China) and 48 Australian (Melbourne, Australia) mother-child dyads (child age: 3-6 years) independently retrieved autobiographical memories and jointly discussed past events. Australian mothers used greater elaborative and supportive reminiscing and provided more specific memories than Chinese mothers. Australian children provided greater memory elaboration than Chinese children, but they did not differ in memory specificity. Maternal reminiscing styles and cultural group were independently predictive of child memory elaboration but not specificity. Nonetheless, moderation analyses showed that the two maternal reminiscing styles (elaborative and supportive) interacted to predict child memory specificity. These findings indicate the importance of culture and types of reminiscing on memory development.
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Peters S, Sheldon S. Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Functioning Are Associated with Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Specificity in Older Adults. GEROPSYCH 2020. [DOI: 10.1024/1662-9647/a000219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Abstract. We examined whether interindividual differences in cognitive functioning among older adults are related to episodic memory engagement during autobiographical memory retrieval. Older adults ( n = 49, 24 males; mean age = 69.93; mean education = 15.45) with different levels of cognitive functioning, estimated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), retrieved multiple memories (generation task) and the details of a single memory (elaboration task) to cues representing thematic or event-specific autobiographical knowledge. We found that the MoCA score positively predicted the proportion of specific memories for generation and episodic details for elaboration, but only to cues that represented event-specific information. The results demonstrate that individuals with healthy, but not unhealthy, cognitive status can leverage contextual support from retrieval cues to improve autobiographical specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Peters
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Strikwerda‐Brown C, Mothakunnel A, Hodges JR, Piguet O, Irish M. External details revisited – A new taxonomy for coding ‘non‐episodic’ content during autobiographical memory retrieval. J Neuropsychol 2018; 13:371-397. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Revised: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cherie Strikwerda‐Brown
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - Annu Mothakunnel
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - John R. Hodges
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Sydney Medical School The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - Olivier Piguet
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - Muireann Irish
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
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Mair A, Poirier M, Conway MA. Supporting older and younger adults’ memory for recent everyday events: A prospective sampling study using SenseCam. Conscious Cogn 2017; 49:190-202. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Revised: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 02/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Lenton-Brym A, Kurczek J, Rosenbaum RS, Sheldon S. A new method for assessing the impact of medial temporal lobe amnesia on the characteristics of generated autobiographical events. Neuropsychologia 2016; 85:35-43. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2015] [Revised: 02/26/2016] [Accepted: 02/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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