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. 2015:2015:963460.
doi: 10.1155/2015/963460. Epub 2015 Jun 15.

Different Temporal Patterns of Specific and General Autobiographical Memories across the Lifespan in Alzheimer's Disease

Nathalie Philippi  1 , François Rousseau  2 , Vincent Noblet  2 , Anne Botzung  3 , Olivier Després  4 , Benjamin Cretin  5 , Stéphane Kremer  6 , Frédéric Blanc  7 , Liliann Manning  3
Affiliations

Different Temporal Patterns of Specific and General Autobiographical Memories across the Lifespan in Alzheimer's Disease

Nathalie Philippi et al. Behav Neurol. 2015.

Abstract

We compared specific (i.e., associated with a unique time and space) and general (i.e., extended or repeated events) autobiographical memories (AbM) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The comparison aims at investigating the relationship between these two components of AbM across the lifespan and the volume of cerebral regions of interest within the temporal lobe. We hypothesized that the ability to elicit specific memories would correlate with hippocampal volume, whereas evoking general memories would be related to lateral temporal lobe. AbM was assessed using the modified Crovitz test in 18 patients with early AD and 18 matched controls. The proportions of total memories-supposed to reflect the ability to produce general memories-and specific memories retrieved were compared between AD patients and controls. Correlations to MRI volumes of temporal cortex were tested. We found different temporal patterns for specific and general memories in AD patients, with (i) relatively spared general memories, according to a temporal gradient that preserved remote memories, predominantly associated with right lateral temporal cortex volume. (ii) Conversely, the retrieval of specific AbMs was impaired for all life periods and correlated with bilateral hippocampal volumes. Our results highlight a shift from an initially episodic to a semantic nature of AbMs during AD, where the abstracted form of memories remains.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Regional segmentation for the temporal cortex (a) and for the hippocampus (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean and standard deviation for the rates of total responses (number of memories scored (2 to 5)/30) on the MCT for AD patients and healthy controls in the five periods of life (*significant intergroup comparison after post hoc analysis). The rates of specific (scored 4 and 5) and general responses (scored 2 and 3) among the total responses are indicated in black and dark gray for the AD patients, and in white and light gray for the controls, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean and standard deviation for the rates of specific responses (number of memories scored (4 and 5)/30) on the MCT for AD patients and healthy controls in the five periods of life (*significant intergroup comparison after post hoc analysis).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlations of the rate of specific responses (number of memories scored (4 and 5)/30) on the MCT with hippocampal volumes, including age and TGM volume as nuisance covariates (red: MCI due to AD, blue: mild AD).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlations of the rate of total responses (number of memories scored (4 and 5)/30) on the MCT with the right temporal neocortical volumes, including age and TGM volume as nuisance covariates (red: MCI due to AD, blue: mild AD).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Correlations in AD patients between rates of specific or total responses over the lifespan on the MCT, and the volume of the temporal neocortex subregions (bold and *indicate significant correlations).
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