Reduced levels of specific autobiographical memories in schizophrenia

Autobiographical memory is intrinsically related to the self and personal identity. This study investigated whether both personal episodic memory and semantic memory are impaired in schizophrenia, a disease characterized by an abnormal personal identity. Personal episodic memory and personal semanti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research 2003-01, Vol.117 (1), p.35-45
Main Authors: Riutort, Marielle, Cuervo, Christine, Danion, Jean-Marie, Peretti, Charles Siegfried, Salamé, Pierre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Autobiographical memory
Autobiography as Topic
Biological and medical sciences
Chronic Disease
Cognitive science
Episodic memory
Female
Humans
Life Change Events
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Recall
Neuropsychological Tests
Personal identity
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
Schizophrenia, Disorganized - diagnosis
Schizophrenia, Disorganized - psychology
Schizophrenic Language
Schizophrenic Psychology
Self
Semantic memory
Semantics
Verbal Behavior
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Summary:Autobiographical memory is intrinsically related to the self and personal identity. This study investigated whether both personal episodic memory and semantic memory are impaired in schizophrenia, a disease characterized by an abnormal personal identity. Personal episodic memory and personal semantic memory were investigated in 24 patients with schizophrenia and 24 normal subjects using an autobiographical fluency task and an autobiographical memory inquiry. Autobiographical memory scores and the proportion of specific memories were lower in patients with schizophrenia than in normal subjects. The deficit of personal episodic and semantic memory, as assessed by the autobiographical memory inquiry and the autobiographical fluency task, respectively, was most apparent after the onset of clinical symptoms. Schizophrenia is associated with an impairment of both personal episodic and semantic memory and with a reduction of specific autobiographical memories. Those impairments are consistent with the existence of an abnormal personal identity in patients with schizophrenia.
ISSN:0165-1781
1872-7123
DOI:10.1016/S0165-1781(02)00317-7