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Autobiographical memory in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

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Abstract

Autobiographical memory (ABM) was evaluated in 19 patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) by means of the standardized enquiry developed by Borrini et al. (Psychol Med 19:215–224, 1989). Longitudinal assessments were carried out by re-testing participants at 9-month intervals up to three assessments over 18 months. Although aMCI patients performed significantly worse than age-, gender- and education-matched normal controls, all of them achieved above normal scores according to Italian norms. No evidence of disproportionate sparing of remote memories (i.e., classical temporal gradient, TG) was found. These findings contrast with the previously reported significant impairment of memory for public events (Bizzozero et al. in J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 31:48–56, 2009). Such a discrepancy might be attributed to the adopted ABM enquiry tapping “personal semantics”, presumed to rely largely on prefrontal functions, in contrast with the mainly episodic qualification of memory for past public events, which is mostly dependent on hippocampal structures. Our results also support the hypothesis that the contents of remote memory archives may be differentially affected in aMCI.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by a Grant awarded to HS by the Italian Health Ministry through the Regione Lombardia (DRG VII/6437).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Third Neurological Department, S. Paolo Hospital, University of Milan, via di Rudinì, 8, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Ilaria Bizzozero, Maria Cristina Saetti & Hans Spinnler

  2. AO G Salvini, Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Via Settembrini 1, 20017, Passirana di Rho (MI), Italy

    Federica Lucchelli

Authors
  1. Ilaria Bizzozero
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  2. Federica Lucchelli
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  3. Maria Cristina Saetti
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  4. Hans Spinnler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Federica Lucchelli.

Additional information

Following our usual practice, the names of the authors are listed in alphabetical order as the contribution of each was essential to this paper. HS made the proposal of the study; HS and FL wrote the manuscript; IB collected the data; MCS managed the psychometric issues.

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Bizzozero, I., Lucchelli, F., Saetti, M.C. et al. Autobiographical memory in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment. Neurol Sci 33, 1145–1153 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0928-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0928-2

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