Growing Up with Asperger’s Syndrome: Developmental Trajectory of Autobiographical Memory

Abstract

Autobiographical memory (AM) and social cognition share common properties and both are affected in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). So far, most of the scant research in ASD has concerned adults, systematically reporting impairment of the episodic component. The only study to be conducted with children concluded that they have poorer personal semantic knowledge than typical developing children. The present study explores the development of both components of AM in an 8-year-old boy diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, based on three examinations in 2007, 2008, and 2010. On each occasion, he underwent a general neuropsychological assessment including theory of mind (ToM) tasks, and a specially designed AM task allowing us to test both the semantic and the episodic components for three lifetime periods (current year, previous year, and earlier years). We observed difficulties in strategic retrieval and ToM, with a significant improvement between the second and third examinations. Regarding AM, different patterns of performance were noted in all three examinations: (1) relative preservation of current year personal knowledge, but impairment for the previous and earlier years, and (2) impairment of episodic memory for the current and previous year, but performances similar to those of controls for the earlier years. The first pattern can be explained by abnormal forgetting and by the semanticization mechanism, which needs verbal communication and social interaction to be efficient. The second pattern suggests that the development of episodic memory only reached the stage of “event memory.” This term refers to memory for personal events lacking in details or spatiotemporal specificity, and is usually observed in children younger than five. We conclude that the abnormal functioning of social cognition in ASD, encompassing social, and personal points of view, has an impact on both components of AM.

Subjective Experience of Episodic Memory and Metacognition: A Neurodevelopmental Approach

“…Only a very few studies have explored the detail retrieved in ASD (see Bon et al, 2012). The studies report conflicting findings.…”

Memory integration in the autobiographical narratives of individuals with autism

“…In children with ASD, both semantic and episodic AM is reduced (Bruck et al, 2007 ; Bon et al, 2012 ; Goddard et al, 2014 ), though by adulthood, adults with ASD show a spared memory for semantic AM, alongside reduced episodic AM (Klein et al, 1999 ; Crane and Goddard, 2008 ). These studies suggest that as semantic AM may grow in ASD, episodic AM impairments are pervasive.…”

“…Examining episodic AM for different periods in participants' lifetimes, studies have found that AM in ASD follows typical patterns of memory deterioration—with more specific memories for recent than remote events—in both adults (Crane and Goddard, 2008 ; Tanweer et al, 2010 ) and children (Bruck et al, 2007 ; Goddard et al, 2014 ; but see Bon et al, 2012 ). Interestingly, Crane and Goddard ( 2008 ) found that adults with ASD lack the typical increase of memories around adolescence years (the “reminiscence bump”) that is associated with identity-building memories.…”

Examining the role of memory in social cognition

“…Similar findings have been observed in neuropsychiatric disorders that are known to impair social cognition. In a longitudinal case study charting the development of a child with autism spectrum disorder, Bon et al (2012) Spreng Examining the role of memory in cognition present an evolving picture of atypical autobiographical memory functioning. In their review, Dimaggio et al (2012) report that shared impairments in autobiographical memory and mentalizing are present in both psychiatric and personality disorders and these deficits need to be considered in treatment and intervention protocols.…”