Stability and consistency of narrative production across time in hippocampal amnesia

Kurczek, J., & Duff, M.C. (2016, April). Stability and consistency of narrative production across time in hippocampal amnesia Poster presentation at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting. New York, New York.

The critical role of the hippocampus and related medial temporal lobe regions in the formation of new enduring memories (i.e., long-term memory) and in their subsequent retrieval is well established.

• Hippocampal dependent declarative (relational) memory has two hallmark features; relational (or associative) memory binding and the flexible expression of memory (Eichenbaum & Cohen, 2001).

• An important aspect of memory is its ability to be flexibly and constructively recalled in novel contexts. Here we measure episodic and semantic memories in two contexts, one in which the same narratives were told and retold over the course of a month and a second in which the same narratives were told from different perspectives.

• Few studies have investigated the role of damage to the hippocampus in telling memories/narratives over time. Evidence from individuals with depression (Semkovska et al., 2012) suggests that individuals with hippocampal damage will be less consistent when retrieving memories and retelling narratives.

• We rarely just tell the same story in the same way. Different contextual demands (e.g., people, setting, purpose) drives telling different versions of memories. Findings here may address how damage to the hippocampus affects integrating both past (i.e., having told the stories previously) and current demands (i.e. updating the story to tell a new perspective) when attempting to re-construct both personal (episodic) and semantic narratives.