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Stendardi D, Giordani LG, Gambino S, Kaplan R, Ciaramelli E. Who am I really? The ephemerality of the self-schema following vmPFC damage. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188:108651. [PMID: 37481034 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
We studied the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in supporting the self-schema, by asking vmPFC patients, along with healthy and brain-damaged controls, to judge the degree to which they (or another person) were likely to engage in a series of activities, and how confident they were in their responses. Critically, participants provided their judgments on two separate occasions, a week apart. Our underlying assumption was that a strong self-schema would lead to confident and stable self-related judgments. We observed that control groups exhibited higher across-session consistency for self-related compared to other-related judgments, while this self-advantage was absent in vmPFC patients. In addition, regression analyses showed that in control groups the level of confidence associated with a specific (self- or other-related) judgment predicted the stability of that judgment across sessions. In contrast, vmPFC patients' confidence and rating consistency were aligned only for other-related judgments. By contrast, self-related judgments changed across sessions regardless of the confidence level with which they were initially endorsed. These findings indicate that the vmPFC is crucial to maintaining the self-schema and supporting the reliable retrieval of self-related information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debora Stendardi
- Dipartimento di Psicologia 'Renzo Canestrari', Università di Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy; Centro di Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, 47521, Italy.
| | - Luca Giacometti Giordani
- Centro di Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, 47521, Italy
| | - Silvia Gambino
- Centro di Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, 47521, Italy
| | - Raphael Kaplan
- Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de La Plana, 12071, Spain
| | - Elisa Ciaramelli
- Dipartimento di Psicologia 'Renzo Canestrari', Università di Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy; Centro di Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, 47521, Italy.
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2
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Conti M, Teghil A, Di Vita A, Boccia M. Lifelong impairment in episodic re-experiencing: Neuropsychological and neuroimaging examination of a new case of Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory. Cortex 2023; 163:80-91. [PMID: 37075508 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Autobiographical memory (AM) represents a complex and multimodal cognitive function, that allows an individual to collect and retrieve personal events and facts, enabling to develop and maintain the continuity of the self over time. Here we describe the case of DR (acronym of the fictional name Doriana Rossi), a 53-year-old woman, who complains of a specific and lifelong deficit in recalling autobiographical episodes. Along with an extensive neuropsychological assessment, DR underwent a structural and functional MRI examination to further define this impairment. The neuropsychological assessment revealed a deficit in episodic re-experiencing of her own personal life events. DR showed reduced cortical thickness in the Retrosplenial Complex in the left hemisphere, and in the Lateral Occipital Cortex, in the Prostriate Cortex and the Angular Gyrus in the right hemisphere. An altered pattern of activity in the calcarine cortex was detected during ordering of autobiographical events according to her own personal timeline. The present study provides further evidence about the existence of a severely deficient autobiographical memory condition in neurologically healthy people, with otherwise preserved cognitive functioning. Furthermore, the present data provide new important insights into neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning such a developmental condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matilde Conti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | - Alice Teghil
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Di Vita
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Maddalena Boccia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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3
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Jelicic M. Dissociative Amnesia? It Might be Organic Memory Loss! Top Cogn Sci 2023. [PMID: 36731123 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
This article discusses the possibility of practitioners who mistake organic memory loss for dissociative amnesia. It starts with the case of a young man with complete retrograde amnesia due to a traumatic head injury. Because he did not show any gross neurological abnormalities, a neurologist thought his amnesia had a psychological origin. An extensive neuropsychological examination revealed that the man did have an organic reason for his amnesia. Next, the existence of dissociative memory loss as well as isolated organic retrograde amnesia is considered. While cases of organic memory loss are well-documented, there is hardly any evidence for dissociative amnesia. It is argued that organic memory loss might be mistakenly taken for dissociative amnesia. In line with the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, practitioners are advised to rule out the possibility of organic memory loss, before diagnosing a patient with dissociative amnesia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marko Jelicic
- Forensic Psychology Section, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University
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Taïb S, Yrondi A, Lemesle B, Péran P, Pariente J. What are the neural correlates of dissociative amnesia? A systematic review of the functional neuroimaging literature. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1092826. [PMID: 36778638 PMCID: PMC9909275 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1092826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
AIM Dissociative amnesia is an emblematic psychiatric condition in which patients experience massive memory loss ranging from focal to global amnesia. This condition remains poorly understood and this review aims to investigate the neuroanatomical feature of this disease. METHODS We conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature available on PubMed, up to December 1, 2022, using a combination of keywords referring to dissociative amnesia. We included every scientific report involving patients undergoing a functional imaging procedure. RESULTS Twenty-two studies met our inclusion criteria (gathering 49 patients). Only one was a controlled study with a large sample. The other 21 were case reports and case series. In resting state, neuroimaging studies mostly showed a hypo-activated right inferolateral prefrontal cortex, associated with limbic hypoactivity and lesser activation of the hippocampal and para-hippocampal structures. The patients also presented abnormal patterns of cerebral activation when performing memory tasks. When testing recognition of memories from the amnestic period, patients showed increased activation across temporal areas (hippocampal and para-hippocampal gyri) and the limbic network. When trying to recollect memories from an amnestic period compared to a non-amnestic period, patients failed to activate these structures efficiently. Most of these patterns tended to return to normal when symptoms resolved. CONCLUSION This review identified a paucity of controlled studies in the field of dissociative amnesia neuroimaging, which restricts the extrapolation of results. Patients with dissociative amnesia present a broad prefronto-temporo-limbic network dysfunction. Some of the brain areas implicated in this network might represent potential targets for innovative treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Taïb
- INSERM U1214 Centre d'Imagerie Neuro Toulouse (ToNIC), Toulouse, France.,Service de Psychiatrie, Psychothérapie et Art-Thérapie, Centre Expert du Stress Traumatique, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Antoine Yrondi
- INSERM U1214 Centre d'Imagerie Neuro Toulouse (ToNIC), Toulouse, France.,Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie et Psychologie Médicale, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Patrice Péran
- INSERM U1214 Centre d'Imagerie Neuro Toulouse (ToNIC), Toulouse, France
| | - Jérémie Pariente
- INSERM U1214 Centre d'Imagerie Neuro Toulouse (ToNIC), Toulouse, France.,Pôle Neurosciences, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
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Irish M. Autobiographical memory in dementia syndromes—An integrative review. WIRES COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 14:e1630. [DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Revised: 09/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Muireann Irish
- School of Psychology and Brain & Mind Centre The University of Sydney Sydney Australia
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6
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Autobiographical Memory Loss in Alzheimer’s disease: The role of the Reminiscence Bump. Cortex 2022; 150:137-148. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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7
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Ford L, Shaw TB, Mattingley JB, Robinson GA. Enhanced semantic memory in a case of highly superior autobiographical memory. Cortex 2022; 151:1-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Gibson EC, Ford L, Robinson GA. Investigating the role of future thinking in highly superior autobiographical memory. Cortex 2022; 149:188-201. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Różyk-Myrta A, Brodziak A, Muc-Wierzgoń M. Neural Circuits, Microtubule Processing, Brain's Electromagnetic Field-Components of Self-Awareness. Brain Sci 2021; 11:984. [PMID: 34439603 PMCID: PMC8393322 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11080984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The known theories discussing the essence of consciousness have been recently updated. This prompts an attempt to integrate these explanations concerning several distinct components of the consciousness phenomenon such as the ego, and qualia perceptions. Therefore, it is useful to consider the latest publications on the 'Orch OR' and 'cemi' theories, which assume that quantum processing occurs in microtubules and that the brain's endogenous electromagnetic field is important. The authors combine these explanations with their own theory describing the neural circuits realizing imagery. They try to present such an interdisciplinary, integrated theoretical model in a manner intuitively understandable to people with a typical medical education. In order to do this, they even refer to intuitively understandable metaphors. The authors maintain that an effective comprehension of consciousness is important for health care professionals because its disorders are frequent medical symptoms in emergencies, during general anesthesia and in the course of cognitive disorders in elderly people. The authors emphasize the current possibilities to verify these theses regarding the essence of consciousness thanks to the development of functional brain imaging methods-magnetoencephalography, transcranial magnetic stimulation-as well as clinical studies on the modification of perceptions and feelings by such techniques as mindfulness and the use of certain psychoactive substances, especially among people with self-awareness and identity disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicja Różyk-Myrta
- Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Applied Sciences in Nysa, 48-300 Nysa, Poland; (A.B.); (M.M.-W.)
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review traces amnesia's history from its earliest eighteenth century classification as a medical disorder to the present. Sophisticated depictions in the nineteenth century literature containing elaborate compilations of causal factors, including neurologic, consider pathogenesis, course, duration, durability, and temporal features. RECENT FINDINGS Severe amnesia, especially anterograde involving new learning, found archetypal expression in the twentieth century, in the case of H.M. The "pure" amnesia confirmed an independent memory disorder distinct from other cognitive disturbances, with functional dissociations illustrating nuanced manifestations and highlighting the role of some discovered structural correlates (e.g., hippocampal and associated MTL regions). Moreover, neural networks and interconnections have also notably been implicated. Although concepts of illness change across cultures and centuries, portrayal of amnesia remained consistent as it spread internationally. Amnesia's groundbreaking original nosology laid a foundation for contemporary paradigms of the multifactorial nature, specificity, and complexity of a poignantly thought-provoking disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen G Langer
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA.
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11
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Highly superior autobiographical memory in aging: A single case study. Cortex 2021; 143:267-280. [PMID: 34167804 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Whilst countless studies have shown that aging is associated with cognitive decline in the general population, near to nothing is known about this association in elderly individuals naturally exhibiting enhanced memory capabilities. The identification of a 75 years old individual (GC) with highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM), and his willingness to volunteer to our study over a period of five years, allowed us to investigate this issue in a single case study. At the age of 75 years, GC was screened for HSAM with the Public Events Quiz and the Random Dates Quiz, with a positive outcome. GC's memory performance was extraordinarily higher than normal-memory control subjects (>3 standard deviations), and comparable to a group of younger HSAM individuals (mean age of 32.5 years; Santangelo et al., 2018). GC underwent general neuropsychological (Mini-Mental State Examination), personality (Personality Assessment Inventory), and brain morphological (brain volumes and lesions) assessments, showing no deviation from normal ranges. To gain insight into the brain mechanisms underlying his memory performance, GC underwent functional brain imaging during the retrieval of memories associated with random dates. The latter were also rated in terms of reliving quality and emotional valence. Similar to younger HSAM individuals, GC's access to past memories recruited a wide network of prefrontal and temporo-parietal regions, especially during the recollection of memories associated with a lower reliving rating, suggesting a compensatory mechanism in HSAM. Increased activity in the insula was instead associated with emotionally-positive memories. Five years later, GC was tested again for HSAM and showed no sign of memory decline, whereby his memory performance was indistinguishable from the tests he performed five years earlier. GC's case suggests that highly superior memory performance can manifest without apparent decline in physiological aging. Implications of the current findings for the extant models of autobiographical memory are discussed.
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12
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Nørby S. Varieties of graded forgetting. Conscious Cogn 2020; 84:102983. [PMID: 32763789 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Forgetting is typically viewed as counterproductive in everyday life. However, it may mainly be harmful when it is complete, that is, all-encompassing and permanent, and not when it is graded, that is, partial and fluctuating. I propose that forgetting is in fact mostly graded, and that this is an essential reason that it is often helpful. I delineate three ways in which forgetting may be graded. First, it may occur with respect to one, but not another, part of a memory. Second, it may occur in one context, but not in another. Third, forgetting may be present at one point in time, but not at another. Also, I propose that different levels of forgetting are possible, based on whether an engram or a context is unavailable, silent, restricted, latent, or potent. Overall, I hypothesize that forgetting is often helpful because it can be flexible and tailored to the circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Nørby
- Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Denmark.
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13
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Santangelo V, Pedale T, Macrì S, Campolongo P. Enhanced cortical specialization to distinguish older and newer memories in highly superior autobiographical memory. Cortex 2020; 129:476-483. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Staniloiu A, Kordon A, Markowitsch HJ. Stress- and trauma-related blockade of episodic-autobiographical memory processing. Neuropsychologia 2020; 139:107364. [PMID: 32006541 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Revised: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Memory disorders without a direct neural substrate still belong to the riddles in neuroscience. Although they were for a while dissociated from research and clinical arenas, risking becoming forgotten diseases, they sparked novel interests, paralleling the refinements in functional neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Although Endel Tulving has not fully embarked himself on exploring this field, he had published at least one article on functional amnesia (Schacter et al., 1982) and ignited a seminal article on amnesia with mixed etiology (Craver et al., 2014). Most importantly, the research of Endel Tulving has provided the researchers and clinicians in the field of dissociative or functional amnesia with the best framework for superiorly understanding these disorders through the lens of his evolving concept of episodic memory and five long term memory systems classification, which he developed and advanced. Herein we use the classification of long-term memory systems of Endel Tulving as well as his concepts and views on autonoetic consciousness, relationships between memory systems and relationship between episodic memory and emotion to describe six cases of dissociative amnesia that put a challenge for researchers and clinicians due to their atypicality. We then discuss their possible triggering and maintaining mechanisms, pointing to their clinical heterogeneity and multifaceted causally explanatory frameworks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelica Staniloiu
- University of Bielefeld, Germany; University of Bucharest, Romania; Oberberg Clinic Hornberg, Germany
| | - Andreas Kordon
- Oberberg Clinic Hornberg, Germany; University of Freiburg, Germany
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Rubin DC. The ability to recall scenes is a stable individual difference: Evidence from autobiographical remembering. Cognition 2020; 197:104164. [PMID: 31918237 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Revised: 12/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Four behavioral studies (ns ~ 200 to 400) extended neural studies of ventral stream damage and fMRI activation and behavioral studies of scene recall conducted on individual memories to individual differences in normal populations. Ratings of scene and contents were made on one set of autobiographical memories. Ratings of reliving, vividness, belief, emotional intensity, and temporal specificity were made on different memories. Thus, correlations between these ratings were due to variability in the participants, not the events remembered. Scene correlated more highly than contents with reliving, vividness, belief, and emotional intensity but not temporal specificity. Scene correlated more highly than other visual imagery tests with reliving, vividness, and belief. Scene correlated with individual differences tests of episodic memories and future events more highly than it did with tests of semantic memory and spatial navigation abilities. Moreover, scene had high test-retest correlations measured at periods of up to one month. The ability to recall scenes is a stable disposition, with both convergent and divergent validity, which predicts basic qualities of autobiographical memories. A Scene Recall Imagery Test is introduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- David C Rubin
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0086, USA; Center on Autobiographical Memory Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000C, Denmark.
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