Autobiographical Memory, The Wonderful Memories Of Our Experiences
Remembering our first childhood sweetheart, what smell we loved the most, who we were and how we loved life are inherent issues with autobiographical memory. Can you imagine forgetting who the people closest to you are? How was your first kiss? Or what were your favorite places?
Today we are going to talk about this type of memory. To begin with, we’ll tell you what it is. Later we will talk about its division. We are also going to dive into your relationship with consciousness. Finally, we will see some current research that enlightens us to find an alternative treatment and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Autobiographical memory, what is it?
Autobiographical memory is that which is linked to personal experiences. It is made up of the memories we have of our life. In addition, it is the support of our biography, since it acts as an organizer of our experiences.
This memory results from the interaction we have with the world and is defined by what we do. However, according to José María Ruiz-Vargas, professor and researcher at the Faculty of Psychology of the Autonomous University of Madrid, autobiographical memories are characterized by:
- The relationship with oneself. Since memories contain information that helps structure and define it.
- Narrative structure. Well, when we bring up personal experiences from the past, we do so by telling a story. Then, “the experience becomes narrative through the recovery” (Ruiz-Vargas, 2004, p.10).
- Mental images. Autobiographical memories are evoked, including visual images and other sensory modalities. For example, hearing and smell.
- Emotional component. Emotions can have a strengthening effect on memories.
Autobiographical memory is also linked to a temporal distribution. The availability of the personal past is not made in a uniform way, it varies in each one and also according to the stage of the life cycle in which we find ourselves.
Memory divisions
Autobiographical memory consists of two elements:
- Episodic autobiographical memory. They are memories of one’s own past, that is, those associated with personal experiences that take place in a given place and time.
- Semantic autobiographical memory. These are the memories associated with events that occur repeatedly and past experiences that span long periods of lived time.
Here are some examples of episodic autobiographical memories. “I remember that day when I dived and saw a turtle for the first time”, or “I remember when I was hospitalized for depression”. Instead, one of the semantic autobiographical memories would be: “When I was a child, I visited my grandmother every Saturday.”
If we analyze both types of memory, we can see that episodic autobiographical memory is tied to subjective time, which allows us to relive past experiences through autonoetic consciousness.
That is, allowing us to have the feeling that we are living our memories, like a kind of mental time travel. In contrast, semantic autobiographical memory leads to a limited awareness of the feeling of familiarity.
Autobiographical memory today
Autobiographical memory continues to be a fairly explored field today. Mainly, associated with neurodegenerative diseases and post-traumatic stress disorder. We will dig deeper into Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Autobiographical memory in Alzheimer’s disease is in decline. What is curious is that through various investigations, we have seen that this happens differently depending on the type and normal and pathological aging.
So when people remember their past, we show a thought associated with episodic memory. The production of these memories is low compared to semantic memories. People with AD have little ability to remember episodic autobiographical moments.
To study autobiographical memory in AD, some experts have resorted to experiments through reminiscence, that is, the evocation of memories.
For example, El haj, Fasotti & Allain (2012), in their article published in Consciouness and Cognition Magazine , show how they examined the involuntariness of autobiographical memories evoked by music. Other authors emphasize the evocation of memories, but through images, videos and even smells.
In summary, autobiographical memory is closely related to who we are, since it has to do with our experiences in general and in detail. The way autobiographical memories are evoked in normal and pathological aging is different.
Additionally, people with AD show a progressive loss of episodic autobiographical memory. Various investigations continue to explore this type of memory, we hope that they will continue to open the way for us to better understand it both in normal and pathological functioning.
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