Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study)
Autobiographical memory 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 c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00605/full |
| _version_ | 1818963573444968448 |
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| author | Laetitia eBon Laetitia eBon Jean-Marc eBaleyte Jean-Marc eBaleyte Pascale ePiolino Béatrice eDesgranges Francis eEustache Bérengère eGuillery-Girard |
| author_facet | Laetitia eBon Laetitia eBon Jean-Marc eBaleyte Jean-Marc eBaleyte Pascale ePiolino Béatrice eDesgranges Francis eEustache Bérengère eGuillery-Girard |
| author_sort | Laetitia eBon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Autobiographical memory 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 autobiographical memory 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 tasks, and a specially-designed autobiographical memory 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 theory of mind, with a significant improvement between the second and third examinations. Regarding autobiographical memory, 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 5. 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 autobiographical memory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T12:47:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3d063d5a46364ba5ad34386bcab81215 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T12:47:22Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-3d063d5a46364ba5ad34386bcab812152022-12-21T19:40:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782013-01-01310.3389/fpsyg.2012.0060539125Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study)Laetitia eBon0Laetitia eBon1Jean-Marc eBaleyte2Jean-Marc eBaleyte3Pascale ePiolino4Béatrice eDesgranges5Francis eEustache6Bérengère eGuillery-Girard7InsermCHU de CaenInsermCHU de CaenInstitut de Psychologie, Université René Descartes,InsermInsermInsermAutobiographical memory 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 autobiographical memory 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 tasks, and a specially-designed autobiographical memory 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 theory of mind, with a significant improvement between the second and third examinations. Regarding autobiographical memory, 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 5. 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 autobiographical memory.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00605/fullTheory of MindautismChildepisodic memoryautobiographical memorySemantic memory |
| spellingShingle | Laetitia eBon Laetitia eBon Jean-Marc eBaleyte Jean-Marc eBaleyte Pascale ePiolino Béatrice eDesgranges Francis eEustache Bérengère eGuillery-Girard Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study) Frontiers in Psychology Theory of Mind autism Child episodic memory autobiographical memory Semantic memory |
| title | Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study) |
| title_full | Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study) |
| title_fullStr | Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study) |
| title_short | Growing up with Asperger’s syndrome: developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory (a clinical case study) |
| title_sort | growing up with asperger s syndrome developmental trajectory of autobiographical memory a clinical case study |
| topic | Theory of Mind autism Child episodic memory autobiographical memory Semantic memory |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00605/full |
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