Emotional autobiographical memories in amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe damage

Tony W Buchanan; Daniel Tranel; Ralph Adolphs

doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4735-04.2005

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Emotional autobiographical memories in amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe damage

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Emotional autobiographical memories in amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe damage

Tony W Buchanan, Daniel Tranel and Ralph Adolphs

The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.25(12), pp.3151-3160

03/23/2005

DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4735-04.2005

PMCID: PMC6725089

PMID: 15788772

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Abstract

The recollection of emotional autobiographical memories has received little attention in patients with memory disorders. Here, we addressed this topic in amnesic patients with damage to the hippocampus (HC group; n = 8) or the hippocampus, amygdala, and surrounding cortices (HC+ group; n = 2). These patients were asked to recollect emotional events from their lives. HC patients produced recollections that were strikingly similar to those of brain-damaged (n = 10) and healthy (n = 25) comparison participants, in terms of both quantity and quality. In contrast, HC+ patients produced a lower proportion of unpleasant memories compared with the other participants. Specifically, the ratings and words used to describe recollections in the HC+ patients were more affectively positive. All groups produced more memories from between 10 and 30 years of age (the so-called autobiographical memory "bump") compared with other time periods in their lives. These results suggest that structures surrounding the hippocampus, but not the hippocampus itself, may be necessary for the recollection of highly emotional, unpleasant autobiographical memories. The amygdala and surrounding cortices of the medial temporal lobe may be a necessary component in the neural circuitry necessary for vivid recollection of unpleasant emotional events.

Emotions - physiology

Age Factors

Humans

Middle Aged

Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods

Male

Amnesia - physiopathology

Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data

Analysis of Variance

Image Processing, Computer-Assisted

Brain Mapping

Adult

Female

Aged

Temporal Lobe - pathology

Amnesia - pathology

Memory - physiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Emotional autobiographical memories in amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe damage
Creators: Tony W Buchanan - Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. tony-buchanan@uiowa.edu
Daniel Tranel
Ralph Adolphs
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.25(12), pp.3151-3160
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4735-04.2005
PMID: 15788772
PMCID: PMC6725089
NLM abbreviation: J Neurosci
ISSN: 0270-6474
eISSN: 1529-2401
Publisher: United States
Grant note: P01 19632 / PHS HHS R01 067681 / PHS HHS
Language: English
Date published: 03/23/2005
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002300602771

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