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Gériatrie et Psychologie Neuropsychiatrie du Vieillissement

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Autobiographical memory compromise in Alzheimer's disease: a cognitive and clinical overview Volume 15, issue 4, Décembre 2017

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Authors
1 Laboratoire SCALab, UMR CNRS 9193,Université de Lille, CHU Lille, Lille, France
2 Pôle de gérontologie, Unité de psychogériatrie, CHU de Lille, Lille, France
3 Unité de gériatrie, Centre hospitalier de Tourcoing, Tourcoing, France
* Tirés à part

Autobiographical memory refers to memory for personal information. The compromise of autobiographical memory in Alzheimer's disease (AD) results in a loss of knowledge about events and facts that defined the patients’ life, and consequently, degradation of their self-knowledge and sense of identity. The compromise of autobiographical memory in AD can be attributed to a diminished subjective experience of memory and a diminished sense of the self. Our review provides a comprehensive overview of cognitive and clinical processes that may be involved in difficulties to retrieve autobiographical memories in Alzheimer's disease. Our review also proposes a theoretical model according to which, the diminished ability to retrieve contextual information and the overgenerality of recall result in a diminished subjective experience of past and future thinking. Besides its theoretical contribution, our review proposes clinical applicability for evaluation and rehabilitation of autobiographical memory in AD.