Studies of autobiographical memory in semantic dementia have found relative preservation of memories for recent rather than remote events. As semantic dementia is associated with progressive atrophy to temporal neocortex, with early asymmetric sparing of the hippocampus, this neuropsychological pattern suggests that the hippocampal complex plays a role in the acquisition and retrieval of recent...

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been consistently implicated in autobiographical memory recall and decision making. Its function in decision making tasks is believed to relate to value representation, but its function in autobiographical memory recall is not yet clear. We hypothesised that the mPFC represents the subjective value of elements during autobiographical memory retrieval. Usi...

Autobiographical memory (AM) defines the memory systems that encode, consolidate, and retrieve personal events and facts, AM is strongly related to self-perception and self representation. We review here the neural correlates of AM retrieval. AM retrieval encompasses a large neural network including the prefrontal, temporal, and parietal cortex, and limbic structures. All these regions subserve...

OBJECTIVES In the last 20 years, an increasing number of articles have been published about effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on memory. Here, we review autobiographical memory studies in particular because there have been conflicting reports about the extent and persistence of ECT effects and the period before treatment from which memories are most likely to be affected. METHODS Fiv...

Two studies investigated a hypothesis of Dalgleish et al. (2003) that overgeneral memory may arise from matching between task cues and dysfunctional attitudes or schemas. In the first study, 111 euthymic patients with at least two previous major depressive episodes completed the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: Form A (DAS-A) and the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). In the second study, 82 pati...

This study investigated the mechanisms behind episodic autobiographical memory (EAM) development in school-age children. Thirty children (6-11years) performed a novel EAM test. We computed one index of episodicity via autonoetic consciousness and two indices of retrieval spontaneity (overall and EAM-specific) for a recent period (previous school year) and a more remote one (preschool years). Ex...

Deficits in autobiographical memory appear earlier for recent than for remote life periods over the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aims to further our understanding of this graded effect by investigating the cognitive and neural substrates of recent versus remote autobiographical memories in patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) thanks to an autobiograph...