Visual memory loss and autobiographical amnesia: a case study

Abstract

Amnesia typically results from trauma to the medial temporal regions that coordinate activation among the disparate areas of cortex that represent the information that make up autobiographical memories. We proposed that amnesia should also result from damage to these regions, particularly regions that subserve long-term visual memory [Rubin, D. C., & Greenberg, D. L. (1998). Visual memory-deficit amnesia: A distinct amnesic presentation and etiology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 95, 5413-5416]. We previously found 11 such cases in the literature, and all 11 had amnesia. We now present a detailed investigation of one of these patients. M.S. suffers from long-term visual memory loss along with some semantic deficits; he also manifests a severe retrograde amnesia and moderate anterograde amnesia. The presentation of his amnesia differs from that of the typical medial-temporal or lateral-temporal amnesic; we suggest that his visual deficits may be contributing to his autobiographical amnesia.

The Basic-Systems Model of Episodic Memory

“…Although medial temporal damage might account for some of the memory loss in some of these cases (5 of the 11 patients had some sign of medial temporal damage), the patterns of the deficits suggest otherwise. In-depth testing of 1 of these 1 1 patients confirmed our general observations (Greenberg, Eacott, Brechin, & Rubin, 2005). The findings are consistent with most neuropsychological and neural net theories of memories (e.g., McClelland et al, 1995;Schmajuk & DiCarlo, 1992), and aspects of our explanation of visual memory deficit amnesia were considered in 2 of the case studies we reviewed (Hunkin et al, 1995;Ogden, 1993).…”

Autobiographical memory in multiple sclerosis patients: Assessment and cognitive facilitation

“…The importance of MVI in AbM is supported both by case reports of autobiographical amnesic patients presenting, primarily, an MVI deficit (Greenberg, Eacott, Brechin, & Rubin, 2005;Rubin & Greenberg, 1998), and neuroimaging studies showing that imagination of fictitious scenes and AbM are sustained by overlapping cerebral network activations (Hassabis, Kumaran, & Maguire, 2007;Huijbers et al, 2011). On this basis, the use of MVI in the context of the present study was promising, all the more so that MVI had already been used as a rehabilitation technique in MS (Chiaravalloti et al, 2005).…”

The role of visual imagery in autobiographical memory

“…Several lines of research have shed light on this question, but they have not yet yielded a definitive answer. As we noted earlier, people who lose visual imagery because of a neurological injury tend to have severe retrograde amnesia; their anterograde memory tends to be better, although the data are quite meager, and we do not know why these memories are not as severely affected (Greenberg et al, 2005;O'Connor et al, 1992;Ogden, 1993). Although these cases suggest that visual imagery plays a vital role in autobiographical memory, they only tell part of the story.…”

“…Neuropsychological studies have revealed that people with an acquired imagery deficit often have profound autobiographical amnesia (Greenberg, Eacott, Brechin, & Rubin, 2005;O'Connor, Butters, Miliotis, Eslinger, & Cermak, 1992;Ogden, 1993). Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that autobiographical retrieval is associated with increased activation in posterior cortical regions that play a role in visual imagery (for reviews, see Cabeza & St. Jacques, 2007;Spreng, Mar, & Kim, 2009;Svoboda, McKinnon, & Levine, 2006).…”