Specificity deficit in the recollection of emotional memories in schizophrenia.

Full Abstract

The influence of emotion on episodic and autobiographical memory in schizophrenia was investigated. Using an experiential approach, the states of awareness accompanying recollection of pictures from the IAPS and of associated autobiographical memories was recorded. Results show that schizophrenia impairs episodic and autobiographical memories in their critical feature:
autonoetic awareness, i.e., the type of awareness experienced when mentally reliving events from one's past. Schizophrenia was also associated with a reduction of specific autobiographical memories. The impact of stimulus valence on memory performance was moderated by clinical status. Patients with schizophrenia recognized more positive than negative pictures, and recalled more positive than negative autobiographical memories while controls displayed the opposite pattern. A hypothesis in terms of a fundamental executive deficit underlying these impairments is proposed.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Neumann, Aurore (A); Blairy, Sylvie (S); Lecompte, Damien (D); Philippot, Pierre (P);

Affiliation: Faculté de Psychologie, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Cardinal Mercier, 10, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. aurore.neumann(-atsign-)psp.ucl.ac.be

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Consciousness and cognition (Conscious Cogn), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jun; vol 16 (issue 2) : pp 469-84

Dates: Created 2007/06/11; Completed 2007/10/02;

PMID: 16901720, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.