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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 23, 2005, 25(12):3151-3160; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4735-04.2005

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Emotional Autobiographical Memories in Amnesic Patients with Medial Temporal Lobe Damage

Tony W. Buchanan,¹ Daniel Tranel,¹ and Ralph Adolphs²

¹Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, and ²Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125

The recollection of emotional autobiographical memories has received little attention in patients with memory disorders. Here, we addressed this topic in amnesic patients with damage to the hippocampus (HC group; n = 8) or the hippocampus, amygdala, and surrounding cortices (HC+ group; n = 2). These patients were asked to recollect emotional events from their lives. HC patients produced recollections that were strikingly similar to those of brain-damaged (n = 10) and healthy (n = 25) comparison participants, in terms of both quantity and quality. In contrast, HC+ patients produced a lower proportion of unpleasant memories compared with the other participants. Specifically, the ratings and words used to describe recollections in the HC+ patients were more affectively positive. All groups produced more memories from between 10 and 30 years of age (the so-called autobiographical memory "bump") compared with other time periods in their lives. These results suggest that structures surrounding the hippocampus, but not the hippocampus itself, may be necessary for the recollection of highly emotional, unpleasant autobiographical memories. The amygdala and surrounding cortices of the medial temporal lobe may be a necessary component in the neural circuitry necessary for vivid recollection of unpleasant emotional events.

Key words: amnesia; hippocampus; amygdala; autobiographical memory; emotion; medial temporal lobe

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Received Sep 17, 2004; revised January 26, 2005; accepted February 13, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Wiest, E. Lehner-Baumgartner, and C. Baumgartner Panic Attacks in an Individual With Bilateral Selective Lesions of the Amygdala Arch Neurol, December 1, 2006; 63(12): 1798 - 1801. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Bright, J. Buckman, A. Fradera, H. Yoshimasu, A. C.F. Colchester, and M. D. Kopelman Retrograde amnesia in patients with hippocampal, medial temporal, temporal lobe, or frontal pathology. Learn. Mem., September 1, 2006; 13(5): 545 - 557. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. W. Buchanan, D. Tranel, and R. Adolphs Impaired memory retrieval correlates with individual differences in cortisol response but not autonomic response. Learn. Mem., May 1, 2006; 13(3): 382 - 387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. W. Buchanan, D. Tranel, and R. Adolphs Memories for emotional autobiographical events following unilateral damage to medial temporal lobe Brain, January 1, 2006; 129(1): 115 - 127. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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