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Pérez-Mata N, Diges M. False memories in forensic psychology: do cognition and brain activity tell the same story? Front Psychol 2024; 15:1327196. [PMID: 38827889 PMCID: PMC11141885 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1327196] [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: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
One of the most important problems in forensic psychology is the impossibility of reliably discriminating between true and false memories when the only prosecution evidence comes from the memory of a witness or a victim. Unfortunately, both children and adults can be persuaded that they have been victims of past criminal acts, usually of a sexual nature. In adults, suggestion often occurs in the context of suggestive therapies based on the belief that traumatic events are repressed, while children come to believe and report events that never occurred as a result of repeated suggestive questioning. Cognitive Researchers have designed false memory paradigms (i.e., misinformation effect, Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm, event implantation paradigm) to first form false memories and then determine whether it is possible to reliably differentiate between false and true memories. In the present study, we review the contribution of cognitive research to the formation of false memories and the neuropsychological approaches aimed to discriminate between true and false memories. Based on these results, we analyze the applicability of the cognitive and neuropsychological evidence to the forensic setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nieves Pérez-Mata
- Department of Psicología Básica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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2
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Markowitsch HJ, Staniloiu A. Behavioral, neurological, and psychiatric frailty of autobiographical memory. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2023; 14:e1617. [PMID: 35970754 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Revised: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2022] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Autobiographical-episodic memory is considered to be the most complex of the five long-term memory systems. It is autonoetic, which means, self-reflective, relies on emotional colorization, and needs the features of place and time; it allows mental time traveling. Compared to the other four long-term memory systems-procedural memory, priming, perceptual, and semantic memory-it develops the latest in phylogeny and ontogeny, and is the most vulnerable of the five systems, being easily impaired by brain damage and psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, it is characterized by its fragility and proneness to distortion due to environmental influences and subsequent information. On the brain level, a distinction has to be made between memory encoding and consolidating, memory storage, and memory retrieval. For encoding, structures of the limbic system, with the hippocampus in its center, are crucial, for storage of widespread cortical networks, and for retrieval again a distributed recollection network, in which the prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role, is engaged. Brain damage and psychiatric diseases can lead to what is called "focal retrograde amnesia." In this context, the clinical picture of dissociative or functional or psychogenic amnesia is central, as it may result in autobiographical-emotional amnesia of the total past with the consequence of an impairment of the self as well. The social environment therefore can have a major impact on the brain and on autobiographical-episodic memory processing. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans J Markowitsch
- Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Angelica Staniloiu
- Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
- Oberberg Clinic, Hornberg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
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3
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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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OUP accepted manuscript. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2022; 37:1158-1176. [DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acac020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Becquet C, Cogez J, Dayan J, Lebain P, Viader F, Eustache F, Quinette P. Episodic Autobiographical Memory Impairment and Differences in Pronoun Use: Study of Self-Awareness in Functional Amnesia and Transient Global Amnesia. Front Psychol 2021; 12:624010. [PMID: 34721125 PMCID: PMC8551381 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The subjective experience associated to memory processing is the core of the definition of episodic autobiographical memory (EAM). However, while it is widely known that amnesia affects the content of memories, few studies focused on the consequences of an impairment of EAM on the subjective self, also called the I-self. In the present study, we explored the I-self in two puzzling disorders that affect EAM: functional amnesia, which has an impact on autobiographical memory, and transient global amnesia (TGA), which only affects episodic memory. I-self was assessed through an original measure of self-integration in autobiographical narratives, namely the use of general or personal pronouns. Results showed that patients with functional amnesia tended to use general pronouns, whereas patients with TGA preferentially used the first person. The link between I-self and depersonalization-derealisation tendencies was also explored, showing dissociative tendencies in patients with functional amnesia but not in patients with TGA. We discuss these results from a combined neuropsychological and psychopathological perspective, with a view to proposing an explanatory model of the links between self-awareness and the episodic component of autobiographical memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Céline Becquet
- “Neuropsychology and Imaging of Human Memory” Research Unit, Caen-Normandy University-PSL Research University-EPHE-INSERM-Caen University Hospital, Caen, France
| | - Julien Cogez
- Neurology Department, Caen-Normandy University Hospital, Caen, France
| | - Jacques Dayan
- “Neuropsychology and Imaging of Human Memory” Research Unit, Caen-Normandy University-PSL Research University-EPHE-INSERM-Caen University Hospital, Caen, France
- Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie de I’Enfant et de l’Adolescent, Centre Hospitalier Guillaume Régnier, Université Rennes 1, Rennes, France
| | - Pierrick Lebain
- Psychiatry Department, Caen-Normandy University Hospital, Caen, France
| | - Fausto Viader
- “Neuropsychology and Imaging of Human Memory” Research Unit, Caen-Normandy University-PSL Research University-EPHE-INSERM-Caen University Hospital, Caen, France
| | - Francis Eustache
- “Neuropsychology and Imaging of Human Memory” Research Unit, Caen-Normandy University-PSL Research University-EPHE-INSERM-Caen University Hospital, Caen, France
| | - Peggy Quinette
- “Neuropsychology and Imaging of Human Memory” Research Unit, Caen-Normandy University-PSL Research University-EPHE-INSERM-Caen University Hospital, Caen, France
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Accelerated forgetting in temporal lobe epilepsy: When does it occur? Cortex 2021; 141:190-200. [PMID: 34058619 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The main goal of the study was to analyse differences in the forgetting rates of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) patients at different intervals (30 sec, 10 min, 1 day and 1 week) compared with those of healthy controls. A secondary aim of this research was to provide an assessment of the relationship between clinical epilepsy-related variables and forgetting rates in TLE patients. METHOD The sample was composed of 14 TLE patients and 14 healthy matched controls. All participants underwent a full standardised neuropsychological assessment including general intelligence, executive functioning, memory, language and other variables, such as depression, anxiety or everyday memory failures. Two specific memory tasks, consisting of cued recall of 4 short stories and 4 routes, were carried out at four different intervals. RESULTS There was a significant difference between groups at 10-min interval on the stories task, with the TLE group displaying greater forgetting than healthy controls. None of the other intervals on either task showed significant group differences. No differences were found when controlling for clinical epilepsy-related variables. CONCLUSION Forgetting of verbal information at 10 min was greater in patients with TLE compared with controls, but accelerated longer term forgetting was not found. This study suggests that a late consolidation process is not necessarily impaired in TLE patients.
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Cubelli R, Beschin N, Della Sala S. Retrograde amnesia: A selective deficit of explicit autobiographical memory. Cortex 2020; 133:400-405. [PMID: 33246579 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Cubelli
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Italy
| | - Nicoletta Beschin
- Neuropsychological Service, Rehabilitation Unit, ASST Valle Olona, Somma Lombardo Hospital, Italy
| | - Sergio Della Sala
- Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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Acute amnestic syndromes. J Neurol Sci 2020; 413:116781. [PMID: 32203745 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2020.116781] [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: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Acute amnestic syndromes are usually rare clinical events occurring in emergency situations. Etiological diagnosis can be challenging and underlying causes diverse. They can be transient and totally reversible, or accompanied by other neurological symptoms resulting in serious and irreversible brain damage. Pathophysiology of these syndromes mainly corresponds to structural or functional alteration of memory circuits, including those in the hippocampus. One of the most frequent forms is transient global amnesia (TGA), characterized by sudden onset of anterograde amnesia lasting less than 24 hours, in the absence of other neurological signs or symptoms. Another acute and transient memory disorder is transient epileptic amnesia (TEA), due to focal crisis activity. Stroke injuries occurring at strategic memory-related sites can also present as sudden episodes of amnesia. In addition to neurological etiologies, amnesia may be a symptom of a psychiatric disorder (dissociative amnesia). Traumatic brain injuries, autoimmune encephalitis and acute toxic metabolic disorders can also cause amnesia and should be included among the differential diagnoses. In this review, we summarize the most relevant clinical findings in acute amnestic syndromes, and discuss the different ancillary tests needed to establish a correct diagnosis and management as well the best treatment options. Relevant anatomical and pathophysiological aspects underlying these conditions will be also be presented.
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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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10
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES In this paper, I review three 'anomalies' or disorders in autobiographical memory: neurological retrograde amnesia (RA), spontaneous confabulation, and psychogenic amnesia. METHODS Existing theories are reviewed, their limitations considered, some of my own empirical findings briefly described, and possible interpretations proposed and interspersed with illustrative case-reports. RESULTS In RA, there may be an important retrieval component to the deficit, and factors at encoding may give rise to the relative preservation of early memories (and the reminiscence bump) which manifests as a temporal gradient. Spontaneous confabulation appears to be associated with a damaged 'filter' in orbitofrontal and ventromedial frontal regions. Consistent with this, an empirical study has shown that both the initial severity of confabulation and its subsequent decline are associated with changes in the executive function (especially in cognitive estimate errors) and inversely with the quantity of accurate autobiographical memories retrieved. Psychogenic amnesia can be 'global' or 'situation-specific'. The former is associated with a precipitating stress, depressed mood, and (often) a past history of a transient neurological amnesia. In these circumstances, frontal control mechanisms can inhibit retrieval of autobiographical memories, and even the sense of 'self' (identity), while compromised medial temporal function prevents subsequent retrieval of what occurred during a 'fugue'. An empirical investigation of psychogenic amnesia and some recent imaging studies have provided findings consistent with this view. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, these various observations point to the importance of frontal 'control' systems (in interaction with medial temporal/hippocampal systems) in the retrieval and, more particularly, the disrupted retrieval of 'old' memories.
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11
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Poole NA, Cope SR, Bailey C, Isaacs JD. Functional cognitive disorders: identification and management. BJPSYCH ADVANCES 2019. [DOI: 10.1192/bja.2019.38] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYWe review the various functional cognitive disorders (FCDs) – complaints about memory function or another cognitive process in the absence of relevant neuropathology. These are increasingly coming to the attention of psychiatrists and neurologists and FCD encompasses some newly recognised conditions in addition to classic types such as pseudodementia and psychogenic amnesia. The clinical features, neuropsychological findings and treatment are presented and discussed.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this article you will be able to:
•describe clinical features of FCD and how it differs from neurodegenerative causes of cognitive impairment•be able to subclassify cases of FCD using the proposed nosology•understand how to discuss the diagnosis with the patient and explain how the symptoms arise.
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De Luca F, Benuzzi F, Bertossi E, Braghittoni D, di Pellegrino G, Ciaramelli E. Episodic future thinking and future-based decision-making in a case of retrograde amnesia. Neuropsychologia 2018; 110:92-103. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Revised: 08/02/2017] [Accepted: 08/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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13
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Zeman A, Byruck M, Tallis P, Vossel K, Tranel D. Touching the void – First and third person perspectives in two cases of autobiographical amnesia linked to temporal lobe epilepsy. Neuropsychologia 2018; 110:55-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2017] [Revised: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 07/09/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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McKay GCM, Kopelman MD. Psychogenic amnesia: when memory complaints are medically unexplained. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1192/apt.bp.105.001586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
SummaryThe focus of this article is the assessment and management of medically unexplained (‘psychogenic’) amnesia, which we classify here as global or situation specific. Other psychiatric causes for memory disorder and neurological conditions that could cause diagnostic confusion are briefly reviewed, as are forensic aspects of memory complaints. Finally, brain and physiological mechanisms potentially associated with psychogenic amnesia are discussed.
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Harrison NA, Johnston K, Corno F, Casey SJ, Friedner K, Humphreys K, Jaldow EJ, Pitkanen M, Kopelman MD. Psychogenic amnesia: syndromes, outcome, and patterns of retrograde amnesia. Brain 2017; 140:2498-2510. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/awx186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Tramoni-Negre E, Lambert I, Bartolomei F, Felician O. Long-term memory deficits in temporal lobe epilepsy. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2017; 173:490-497. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2017.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2017] [Accepted: 06/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Merckelbach H, Boskovic I, Pesy D, Dalsklev M, Lynn SJ. Symptom overreporting and dissociative experiences: A qualitative review. Conscious Cogn 2017; 49:132-144. [PMID: 28187372 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2016] [Revised: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
We discuss a phenomenon that has received little attention to date in research on dissociative phenomena, namely that self-reports of these phenomena overlap with the tendency to overendorse eccentric items. We review the literature documenting the dissociation-overreporting link and then briefly discuss various interpretations of this link: (1) overreporting is an artifact of measuring dissociative symptoms; (2) dissociative psychopathology engenders overreporting of eccentric symptoms through fantasy proneness or impairments in internal monitoring; (3) an overreporting response style as is evident in malingerers, for example, promotes reports of dissociative symptoms. These three interpretations are not mutually exclusive. Also, the dissociation-overreporting link may have different origins among different samples. Because overreporting may introduce noise in datasets, we need more research specifically aimed at disentangling the dissociation-overreporting link. We suggest various avenues to accomplish this goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Merckelbach
- Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - I Boskovic
- Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - D Pesy
- Department of Neurology, Franziskus Hospital, Mönchengladbach, Germany
| | - M Dalsklev
- Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - S J Lynn
- Binghamton University - State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, USA
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18
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Forgetting in temporal lobe epilepsy: When does it become accelerated? Cortex 2016; 78:70-84. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2015] [Revised: 01/05/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Buckley MJ, Mitchell AS. Retrosplenial Cortical Contributions to Anterograde and Retrograde Memory in the Monkey. Cereb Cortex 2016; 26:2905-18. [PMID: 26946129 PMCID: PMC4869821 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Primate retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is important for memory but patient neuropathologies are diffuse so its key contributions to memory remain elusive. This study provides the first causal evidence that RSC in macaque monkeys is crucial for postoperative retention of preoperatively and postoperatively acquired memories. Preoperatively, monkeys learned 300 object-in-place scene discriminations across sessions. After RSC removal, one-trial postoperative retention tests revealed significant retrograde memory loss for these 300 discriminations relative to unoperated control monkeys. Less robust evidence was found for a deficit in anterograde memory (new postoperative learning) after RSC lesions as new learning to criterion measures failed to reveal any significant learning impairment. However, after achieving ≥90% learning criterion for the postoperatively presented novel 100 object-in-place scene discriminations, short-term retention (i.e., measured after 24 h delay) of this well-learnt set was impaired in the RSC monkeys relative to controls. A further experiment assessed rapid "within" session acquisition of novel object-in-place scene discriminations, again confirming that new learning per se was unimpaired by bilateral RSC removal. Primate RSC contributes critically to memory by supporting normal retention of information, even when this information does not involve an autobiographical component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Buckley
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK
| | - Anna S Mitchell
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK
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Dede AJO, Smith CN. The Functional and Structural Neuroanatomy of Systems Consolidation for Autobiographical and Semantic Memory. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2016; 37:119-150. [PMID: 27677778 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2016_452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
It is well established that patients with memory impairment have more difficulty retrieving memories from the recent past relative to the remote past and that damage to the medial temporal lobe (MTL) plays a key role in this pattern of impairment. The precise role of the MTL and how it may interact with other brain regions remains an area of active research. We investigated the role of structures in a memory network that supports remembering. Our chapter focuses on two types of memory: episodic memory and semantic memory. Findings from studies of patients with brain damage and neuroimaging studies in patients and healthy individuals were considered together to identify the functional and structural neuroanatomy of past remembrance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J O Dede
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA
- Veteran Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive (116A), San Diego, CA, 92161, USA
| | - Christine N Smith
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA.
- Veteran Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive (116A), San Diego, CA, 92161, USA.
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Zeman A, Hoefeijzers S, Milton F, Dewar M, Carr M, Streatfield C. The GABAB receptor agonist, baclofen, contributes to three distinct varieties of amnesia in the human brain – A detailed case report. Cortex 2016; 74:9-19. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2015] [Revised: 09/13/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Abstract
Retrograde amnesia is described as condition which can occur after direct brain damage, but which occurs more frequently as a result of a psychiatric illness. In order to understand the amnesic condition, content-based divisions of memory are defined. The measurement of retrograde memory is discussed and the dichotomy between "organic" and "psychogenic" retrograde amnesia is questioned. Briefly, brain damage-related etiologies of retrograde amnesia are mentioned. The major portion of the review is devoted to dissociative amnesia (also named psychogenic or functional amnesia) and to the discussion of an overlap between psychogenic and "brain organic" forms of amnesia. The "inability of access hypothesis" is proposed to account for most of both the organic and psychogenic (dissociative) patients with primarily retrograde amnesia. Questions such as why recovery from retrograde amnesia can occur in retrograde (dissociative) amnesia, and why long-term new learning of episodic-autobiographic episodes is possible, are addressed. It is concluded that research on retrograde amnesia research is still in its infancy, as the neural correlates of memory storage are still unknown. It is argued that the recollection of episodic-autobiographic episodes most likely involves frontotemporal regions of the right hemisphere, a region which appears to be hypometabolic in patients with dissociative amnesia.
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Affiliation(s)
- H J Markowitsch
- Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
| | - A Staniloiu
- Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Abstract
Behavior, neuropsychology, and neuroimaging suggest that episodic memories are constructed from interactions among the following basic systems: vision, audition, olfaction, other senses, spatial imagery, language, emotion, narrative, motor output, explicit memory, and search and retrieval. Each system has its own well-documented functions, neural substrates, processes, structures, and kinds of schemata. However, the systems have not been considered as interacting components of episodic memory, as is proposed here. Autobiographical memory and oral traditions are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the basic-systems model in accounting for existing data and predicting novel findings, and to argue that the model, or one similar to it, is the only way to understand episodic memory for complex stimuli routinely encountered outside the laboratory.
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Luoto TM, Iverson GL, Losoi H, Wäljas M, Tenovuo O, Kataja A, Brander A, Öhman J. Clinical correlates of retrograde amnesia in mild traumatic brain injury. Brain Inj 2015; 29:565-72. [DOI: 10.3109/02699052.2014.1002421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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Felician O, Tramoni E, Bartolomei F. Transient epileptic amnesia: Update on a slowly emerging epileptic syndrome. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2015; 171:289-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2014.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 11/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability, and therefore an important health and socioeconomic problem for our society. Individuals surviving from a moderate to severe TBI frequently suffer from long-lasting cognitive deficits. Such deficits include different aspects of cognition such as memory, attention, executive functions, and awareness of their deficits. This chapter presents a review of the main neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies of patients with TBI. These studies found that patients evolve differently according to the severity of the injury, the mechanism causing the injury, and the lesion location. Further research is necessary to develop rehabilitation methods that enhance brain plasticity and recovery after TBI. In this chapter, we summarize current knowledge and controversies, focusing on cognitive sequelae after TBI. Recommendations from the Common Data Elements are provided, with an emphasis on diagnosis, outcome measures, and studies organization to make data more comparable across studies. Final considerations on neuroimaging advances, rehabilitation approaches, and genetics are described in the final section of the chapter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Cristofori
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Harvey S Levin
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
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Rathbone CJ, Ellis JA, Baker I, Butler CR. Self, memory, and imagining the future in a case of psychogenic amnesia. Neurocase 2015; 21:727-37. [PMID: 25386796 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2014.977923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
We report a case of psychogenic amnesia and examine the relationships between autobiographical memory impairment, the self, and ability to imagine the future. Case study JH, a 60-year-old male, experienced a 6-year period of pervasive psychogenic amnesia covering all life events from childhood to the age of 53. JH was tested during his amnesic period and again following hypnotherapy and the recovery of his memories. JH's amnesia corresponded with deficits in self-knowledge and imagining the future. Results are discussed with reference to models of self and memory and processes involving remembering and imagining.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare J Rathbone
- a Department of Psychology , Oxford Brookes University , Oxford , UK
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Smith CN. Retrograde memory for public events in mild cognitive impairment and its relationship to anterograde memory and neuroanatomy. Neuropsychology 2014; 28:959-72. [PMID: 25068664 PMCID: PMC4227913 DOI: 10.1037/neu0000117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The study characterized the status of retrograde amnesia (RA) in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHOD We measured RA, anterograde amnesia (AA), brain measures, apolipoprotein-E status (ApoE), and conversion to probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) across 3 years in 15 individuals with MCI. We compared the severity of amnesia and brain atrophy in MCI to a group of patients with limited damage to the hippocampus (H) or more extensive damage to the medial temporal lobe (MTL). RESULTS The MCI group exhibited modest AA, together with severe RA, covering nearly 4 decades before their diagnosis. Compared with H-MTL patients, the temporal extent of RA was disproportionate to the severity of AA. The MCI group exhibited more modest AA and MTL atrophy than H-MTL patients, together with more severe RA and neocortical atrophy than H-MTL patients. The severity of AA corresponded to the integrity of MTL structures, whereas the severity of RA corresponded to the integrity of both MTL and neocortical structures. RA (but not AA, nor measures of cognitive status) was related to ApoE status and subsequent diagnosis of probable AD. RA was predicted by heritable risk for AD, in addition to the integrity of MTL and neocortical structures. CONCLUSIONS Compared with H-MTL patients, the MCI group exhibited RA that was disproportionate to their AA and that was more severe than would be expected if their atrophy were limited primarily to the MTL. Heritable risk for AD, as well as the integrity of brain regions within and beyond the MTL, are important for understanding RA in MCI.
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Kitamura S, Yasuno F, Inoue M, Kosaka J, Kiuchi K, Matsuoka K, Kishimoto T, Suhara T. Increased binding of 5-HT1A receptors in a dissociative amnesic patient after the recovery process. Psychiatry Res 2014; 224:67-71. [PMID: 25052950 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2013] [Revised: 03/13/2014] [Accepted: 07/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Dissociative amnesia is characterized by an inability to retrieve information already saved in memories. 5-HT has some role in neural regulatory control and may be related to the recovery from dissociative amnesia. To examine the role of 5-HT1A receptors in the recovery from dissociative amnesia, we performed two positron emission tomography (PET) scans on a 30-year-old patient of dissociative amnesia using [(11)C]WAY-100635, the first at amnesic state, and the second at the time he had recovered. Exploratory voxel-based analysis (VBA) was performed using SPM software. 5-HT1A BPND images were compared between the patient at amnesic and recovery states and healthy subjects (14 males, mean age 29.8 ± 6.45) with Jack-knife analysis. 5-HT1A receptor bindings of the patient at the recovery state were significantly higher than those of healthy subjects in the right superior and middle frontal cortex, left inferior frontal and orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral inferior temporal cortex. The increase in BPND values of recovery state was beyond 10% of those of amnesia state in these regions except in the right superior frontal cortex. We considered that neural regulatory control by the increase of 5-HT1A receptors in cortical regions played a role in the recovery from dissociative amnesia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fumihiko Yasuno
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan; Clinical Neuroimaging Section, Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan.
| | - Makoto Inoue
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan; Clinical Neuroimaging Section, Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
| | - Jun Kosaka
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan; Clinical Neuroimaging Section, Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
| | - Kuniaki Kiuchi
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan
| | - Kiwamu Matsuoka
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan
| | | | - Tetsuya Suhara
- Clinical Neuroimaging Section, Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
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Grilli MD, Verfaellie M. Personal semantic memory: Insights from neuropsychological research on amnesia. Neuropsychologia 2014; 61:56-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2014] [Revised: 05/14/2014] [Accepted: 06/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Abstract
Dissociative amnesia is one of the most enigmatic and controversial psychiatric disorders. In the past two decades, interest in the understanding of its pathophysiology has surged. In this report, we review new data about the epidemiology, neurobiology, and neuroimaging of dissociative amnesia and show how advances in memory research and neurobiology of dissociation inform proposed pathogenetic models of the disorder. Dissociative amnesia is characterised by functional impairment. Additionally, preliminary data suggest that affected people have an increased and possibly underestimated suicide risk. The prevalence of dissociative amnesia differs substantially across countries and populations. Symptoms and disease course also vary, indicating a possibly heterogeneous disorder. The accompanying clinical features differ across cultural groups. Most dissociative amnesias are retrograde, with memory impairments mainly involving the episodic-autobiographical memory domain. Anterograde dissociative amnesia occurring without significant retrograde memory impairments is rare. Functional neuroimaging studies of dissociative amnesia with prevailing retrograde memory impairments show changes in the network that subserves autobiographical memory. At present, no evidence-based treatments are available for dissociative amnesia and no broad framework exists for its rehabilitation. Further research is needed into its neurobiology, course, treatment options, and strategies to improve differential diagnoses.
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Seron X. Lying in neuropsychology. Neurophysiol Clin 2014; 44:389-403. [PMID: 25306079 DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2014.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2013] [Revised: 01/22/2014] [Accepted: 04/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The issue of lying occurs in neuropsychology especially when examinations are conducted in a forensic context. When a subject intentionally either presents non-existent deficits or exaggerates their severity to obtain financial or material compensation, this behaviour is termed malingering. Malingering is discussed in the general framework of lying in psychology, and the different procedures used by neuropsychologists to evidence a lack of collaboration at examination are briefly presented and discussed. When a lack of collaboration is observed, specific emphasis is placed on the difficulty in unambiguously establishing that this results from the patient's voluntary decision.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Seron
- Université catholique de Louvain, institut de psychologie, 70, avenue du Cor-de-Chasse, 1170 Bruxelles, Belgium.
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Denkova EJ, Manning L. FMRI contributions to addressing autobiographical memory impairment in temporal lobe pathology. World J Radiol 2014; 6:93-105. [PMID: 24778771 PMCID: PMC4000613 DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v6.i4.93] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2013] [Revised: 02/11/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Episodic autobiographical memory (AM) allows one, through the recollection of sensory-perceptual details, thoughts and feelings, to become aware of an event as belonging to one’s own past as well as being able to project into one’s future. Because AM provides a sense of self-continuity, contributes to the integrity of the self, and helps predicting future experiences, any deficit of AM may have debilitating consequences for everyday life functioning. Understanding AM failure and the underlying neural mechanisms has the potential to shed light on brain reorganization mechanisms and engagement of compensatory processes. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides the most promising imaging method to tackle these issues. We reviewed evidence from the few studies that used fMRI to investigate the functionality of the residual tissue, the neural reorganization and compensatory mechanisms in patients with neurological conditions due to impaired medial temporal lobe. Overall, these studies highlight the importance of the left hippocampus, which when atrophied and not functional leads to AM deficits but its residual functionality may support relatively normal AM recollection. When damaged hippocampal tissue is not functional, other brain regions (e.g., the medial prefrontal cortex) may be involved to compensate impairment, but they appear generally ineffective to support detailed episodic recollection.
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Tibon Czopp S, Zeligman R, Kedem S, Hadar U. The amnestic syndrome: applying the Rorschach Inkblot method for differential diagnosis. Neurocase 2014; 20:652-65. [PMID: 23985019 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2013.826694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Dissociative processes were investigated in a man diagnosed with focal retrograde amnesia (FRA) following a traumatic head injury without any anterograde memory deficit. Findings were derived from the Rorschach Inkblot method, which was administered together with other performance-based tests and a self-report inventory for evaluating dissociative proneness in personality functioning. A substantial set of behavioral and test response variables indicated dissociation proneness and the activation of dissociative mechanisms. This conception was supported a few months following the evaluation when the patient reported a total spontaneous recovery of the memory deficit. The interplay between neurological and functional factors in FRA is discussed with a view for creating an integrated model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira Tibon Czopp
- a Department of Psychology , Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo , Tel Aviv , Israel
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Zeman
- Department of Neurology, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, UK.
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Smith CN, Frascino JC, Hopkins RO, Squire LR. The nature of anterograde and retrograde memory impairment after damage to the medial temporal lobe. Neuropsychologia 2013; 51:2709-14. [PMID: 24041667 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2013] [Revised: 09/03/2013] [Accepted: 09/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The study of anterograde and retrograde amnesia (AA and RA) in the laboratory and the clinic has provided important information about the structure and organization of memory. The severity of AA is usually correlated with the severity of RA. Nevertheless, variations in the expression of AA and RA have been reported, which presumably reflect variation in the locus and extent of brain damage. The relationship between AA and RA has rarely been described quantitatively in groups of patients where detailed anatomical information is available. We have quantified the severity of AA and RA for factual information in 11 memory-impaired patients with bilateral medial temporal lobe lesions, including 5 for whom detailed post-mortem neurohistological information was available. The findings describe an orderly relationship between AA and RA, such that patients with more severe AA also had more extensive RA. In addition, RA was measurable only after AA reached a substantial level of severity. This relationship between AA and RA in patients with identified medial temporal lobe lesions appears to describe a general principle, which applies to a range of etiologies, including traumatic amnesia, where the locus and extent of brain damage is less well understood. Whenever patients deviate substantially from the relationship described here, one should be alert to the likelihood that significant damage has occurred outside or in addition to the structures in the medial temporal lobe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine N Smith
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA; Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
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Abstract
Transient amnesic syndromes are striking clinical phenomena that are commonly encountered by physicians in acute medical settings. Diagnosis of such syndromes can be challenging, and their causes have been debated for over 50 years. Critical clinical distinctions, such as between transient global amnesia (TGA) and transient epileptic amnesia (TEA), as well as important clues to the underlying pathophysiology, have recently been revealed. TGA is characterized by the sudden onset of a profound anterograde and retrograde amnesia that lasts for up to 24 h, with neuroimaging after an acute TGA event showing transient perturbation of specific hippocampal circuits that are involved in memory processing. Some cases of transient amnesia are attributable to focal seizure activity and are termed TEA, which has a clinical presentation similar to that of TGA, but can be distinguished from the latter by the brevity and frequency of amnesic attacks. Moreover, TEA carries a risk of persistent memory impairment that can be mistaken for dementia. Here, we summarize clinically relevant aspects of transient amnesic syndromes, giving practical recommendations for diagnosis and patient management. We describe results from imaging and epidemiological studies that have shed light on the functional anatomy and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these conditions.
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Staniloiu A, Markowitsch HJ. Towards solving the riddle of forgetting in functional amnesia: recent advances and current opinions. Front Psychol 2012; 3:403. [PMID: 23125838 PMCID: PMC3485580 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2012] [Accepted: 09/27/2012] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Remembering the past is a core feature of human beings, enabling them to maintain a sense of wholeness and identity and preparing them for the demands of the future. Forgetting operates in a dynamic neural connection with remembering, allowing the elimination of unnecessary or irrelevant information overload and decreasing interference. Stress and traumatic experiences could affect this connection, resulting in memory disturbances, such as functional amnesia. An overview of clinical, epidemiological, neuropsychological, and neurobiological aspects of functional amnesia is presented, by preponderantly resorting to own data from patients with functional amnesia. Patients were investigated medically, neuropsychologically, and neuroradiologically. A detailed report of a new case is included to illustrate the challenges posed by making an accurate differential diagnosis of functional amnesia, a condition that may encroach on the boundaries between psychiatry and neurology. Several mechanisms may play a role in "forgetting" in functional amnesia, such as retrieval impairments, consolidating defects, motivated forgetting, deficits in binding and reassembling details of the past, deficits in establishing a first person autonoetic connection with personal events, and loss of information. In a substantial number of patients, we observed a synchronization abnormality between a frontal lobe system, important for autonoetic consciousness, and a temporo-amygdalar system, important for evaluation and emotions, which provides empirical support for an underlying mechanism of dissociation (a failure of integration between cognition and emotion). This observation suggests a mnestic blockade in functional amnesia that is triggered by psychological or environmental stress and is underpinned by a stress hormone mediated synchronization abnormality during retrieval between processing of affect-laden events and fact-processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hans J. Markowitsch
- Physiological Psychology, University of BielefeldBielefeld, Germany
- Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, University of BielefeldBielefeld, Germany
- Hanse Institute for Advanced StudyDelmenhorst, Germany
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Kopelman MD, Bright P. On remembering and forgetting our autobiographical pasts: retrograde amnesia and Andrew Mayes's contribution to neuropsychological method. Neuropsychologia 2012; 50:2961-72. [PMID: 22884958 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.07.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2011] [Revised: 06/06/2012] [Accepted: 07/18/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Andrew Mayes's contribution to the neuropsychology of memory has consisted in steadily teasing out the nature of the memory deficit in the amnesic syndrome. This has been done with careful attention to matters of method at all stages. This particularly applies to his investigations of forgetting rates in amnesia and to his studies of retrograde amnesia. Following a brief outline of his work, the main current theories of retrograde amnesia are considered: consolidation theory, episodic-to-semantic shift theory, and multiple trace theory. Findings across the main studies in Alzheimer dementia are reviewed to illustrate what appears to be consistently found, and what is much more inconsistent. A number of problems and issues in current theories are then highlighted--including the nature of the temporal gradient, correlations with the extent of temporal lobe damage, what we would expect 'normal' remote memory curves to look like, how they would appear in focal retrograde amnesia, and whether we can pinpoint retrograde amnesia to hippocampal/medial temporal damage on the basis of existing studies. A recent study of retrograde amnesia is re-analysed to demonstrate temporal gradients on recollected episodic memories in hippocampal/medial temporal patients. It is concluded that there are two requirements for better understanding of the nature of retrograde amnesia: (i) a tighter, Mayesian attention to method in terms of both the neuropsychology and neuroimaging in investigations of retrograde amnesia; and (ii) acknowledging that there may be multiple factors underlying a temporal gradient, and that episodic and semantic memory show important interdependencies at both encoding and retrieval. Such factors may be critical to understanding what is remembered and what is forgotten from our autobiographical pasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Kopelman
- King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, University Department of Neuropsychiatry, Adamson Centre, South Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7EH, UK.
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Markowitsch HJ, Staniloiu A. The impairment of recollection in functional amnesic states. Cortex 2012; 49:1494-510. [PMID: 22824728 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2011] [Revised: 05/09/2012] [Accepted: 06/08/2012] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Functional amnesia refers to various forms of amnesia, which have no direct organic brain basis. Psychological stress and trauma were etiologically linked to its development across various cultures. METHODS We have studied several patients with functional amnesia, employing neuropsychological and neuroimaging methods. Herein we provide a review of the current understanding of the phenomenology, neuropsychology and neurobiology of functional amnesia, which we illustrate by reference to five own case descriptions and other cases presented in the literature. RESULTS Functional amnesia is mostly of retrograde nature and presents in the form of a memory blockade or repression to recollect episodic-autobiographical events, which may cover the whole past life. Sometimes, the recollection impairment is localized to certain time epochs. In comparison to functional retrograde amnesia, functional isolated anterograde amnesia is much rarer and data on its neurobiology are scant. In patients with functional amnesia with pronounced retrograde episodic-autobiographical memory impairments, we identified changes in brain metabolism, above all reductions in the temporo-frontal regions of the right hemisphere. Recently, even subtle structural changes in the white matter of the (right) frontal cortex were described in functional retrograde amnesia by other researchers. CONCLUSIONS The disruption in recollection in functional amnesia is often accompanied by changes in personality dimensions, pertaining to cognition (self-related processing, theory of mind), autonoetic consciousness and affectivity. This suggests that functional amnesia is a multifaceted condition. We hypothesize that the recollection deficit in functional retrograde amnesia primarily reflects a desynchronization between a frontal lobe system, important for autonoetic consciousness, and a temporo-amygdalar system, important for evaluation and emotions. Despite assumptions that functional amnesia can always be reversed, several cases of functional amnesia were found to follow a chronic course, suggesting a need for longitudinal prospective studies to quantify possible global cognitive deterioration over time and its neural underpinnings.
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The remains of the day in dissociative amnesia. Brain Sci 2012; 2:101-29. [PMID: 24962768 PMCID: PMC4061789 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci2020101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2012] [Revised: 02/29/2012] [Accepted: 03/22/2012] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Memory is not a unity, but is divided along a content axis and a time axis, respectively. Along the content dimension, five long-term memory systems are described, according to their hierarchical ontogenetic and phylogenetic organization. These memory systems are assumed to be accompanied by different levels of consciousness. While encoding is based on a hierarchical arrangement of memory systems from procedural to episodic-autobiographical memory, retrieval allows independence in the sense that no matter how information is encoded, it can be retrieved in any memory system. Thus, we illustrate the relations between various long-term memory systems by reviewing the spectrum of abnormalities in mnemonic processing that may arise in the dissociative amnesia—a condition that is usually characterized by a retrieval blockade of episodic-autobiographical memories and occurs in the context of psychological trauma, without evidence of brain damage on conventional structural imaging. Furthermore, we comment on the functions of implicit memories in guiding and even adaptively molding the behavior of patients with dissociative amnesia and preserving, in the absence of autonoetic consciousness, the so-called “internal coherence of life”.
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Sehm B, Frisch S, Thöne-Otto A, Horstmann A, Villringer A, Obrig H. Focal retrograde amnesia: voxel-based morphometry findings in a case without MRI lesions. PLoS One 2011; 6:e26538. [PMID: 22028902 PMCID: PMC3197527 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2011] [Accepted: 09/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Focal retrograde amnesia (FRA) is a rare neurocognitive disorder presenting with an isolated loss of retrograde memory. In the absence of detectable brain lesions, a differentiation of FRA from psychogenic causes is difficult. Here we report a case study of persisting FRA after an epileptic seizure. A thorough neuropsychological assessment confirmed severe retrograde memory deficits while anterograde memory abilities were completely normal. Neurological and psychiatric examination were unremarkable and high-resolution MRI showed no neuroradiologically apparent lesion. However, voxel-based morphometry (VBM)-comparing the MRI to an education-, age-and sex-matched control group (n = 20) disclosed distinct gray matter decreases in left temporopolar cortex and a region between right posterior parahippocampal and lingual cortex. Although the results of VBM-based comparisons between a single case and a healthy control group are generally susceptible to differences unrelated to the specific symptoms of the case, we believe that our data suggest a causal role of the cortical areas detected since the retrograde memory deficit is the preeminent neuropsychological difference between patient and controls. This was paralleled by grey matter differences in central nodes of the retrograde memory network. We therefore suggest that these subtle alterations represent structural correlates of the focal retrograde amnesia in our patient. Beyond the implications for the diagnosis and etiology of FRA, our results advocate the use of VBM in conditions that do not show abnormalities in clinical radiological assessment, but show distinct neuropsychological deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Sehm
- Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
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Stracciari A, Mattarozzi K, Fonti C, Guarino M. Functional focal retrograde amnesia: Lost access to abstract autobiographical knowledge? Memory 2010; 13:690-9. [PMID: 16191819 DOI: 10.1080/09658210444000331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
We describe three patients exhibiting an acute reversible amnesia characterised by an impaired recollection of past events with preserved anterograde memory, thus consistent with a focal retrograde amnesia (FRA). This occurred after variable events: state of fugue, road accident, post-traumatic headache. Retrograde amnesia affected autobiographical memory so severely as to cover all of the patients' lives and to erase knowledge of their own identity. The retrieval of public events was variably affected, ranging from normality to severe impairment. No lesions were found on neuroimaging, and neurophysiological findings were unimpressive. FRA subsided in a few days, leaving a gap for the onset. The hypothesis of a psychogenic amnesia is considered, but overcoming the organic/psychogenic dichotomy the episodes appear as examples of "functional" memory inhibition, potentially triggered by different conditions, including events classifiable as psychic trauma. The clinical and neuropsychological traits of functional FRA are discussed. According to a current theory of autobiographical memory, the memory profile may be explained by a lost access to abstract autobiographical knowledge. Given some analogies with the more common transient global amnesia, a mechanism of spreading depression may also be hypothesised for functional FRA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Stracciari
- Unità Operative di Neurologia, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
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Kopelman MD. Comments on focal retrograde amnesia and the attribution of causality: An exceptionally benign commentary by Narinder Kapur. Cogn Neuropsychol 2010; 17:639-40. [DOI: 10.1080/026432900750002190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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Kapur N. Focal retrograde amnesia and the attribution of causality: An exceptionally benign commentary. Cogn Neuropsychol 2010; 17:623-37. [DOI: 10.1080/026432900750002181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Narinder Kapur
- a Southampton General Hospital and University of Southampton, UK
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47
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Staniloiu A, Markowitsch HJ, Brand M. Psychogenic amnesia – A malady of the constricted self. Conscious Cogn 2010; 19:778-801. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.06.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2009] [Revised: 06/22/2010] [Accepted: 06/29/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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48
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Kempster PA, Roberts HL. Scriptwriter's amnesia: Autobiographical memory loss in the documentary film Unknown White Male (2005). Cortex 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2010.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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49
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Merckelbach H, Jelicic M, Pieters M. The residual effect of feigning: How intentional faking may evolve into a less conscious form of symptom reporting. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2010; 33:131-9. [DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2010.495055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Harald Merckelbach
- a Forensic Psychology Section , Maastricht University , Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Marko Jelicic
- a Forensic Psychology Section , Maastricht University , Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten Pieters
- a Forensic Psychology Section , Maastricht University , Maastricht, The Netherlands
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50
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Milton F, Muhlert N, Pindus DM, Butler CR, Kapur N, Graham KS, Zeman AZJ. Remote memory deficits in transient epileptic amnesia. Brain 2010; 133:1368-79. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/awq055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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