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Cited by 138Identity, Memory, and TherapyDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchMemory Processes and Influences

What happens to personal identity when semantic knowledge degrades? A study of the self and autobiographical memory in semantic dementia

Duval, Céline, Desgranges, Béatrice, de La Sayette, Vincent, Belliard, Serge, Eustache, Francis, Piolino, Pascale·2012·Neuropsychologia
DOI 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.11.019
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Abstract

While the self has been extensively explored in amnesic patients with severe episodic but not semantic memory disturbance, little is known about the self in semantic dementia (SD), which generally features the reverse pattern of impairment. In the present study, we investigated the structural (self-representations) and functional (consciousness) dimensions of the self in a group of eight SD patients in the early to moderate stages of the disease. We used two original tasks designed to probe both structural characteristics, namely the strength and the certainty of self-concept and the episodic/semantic nature of self-representations, and functional characteristics, namely autonoetic/noetic level of consciousness, self-evaluation and self-projection into the past, present and future. Results for the structural self showed impairment on the semantic aspects of the self-representations, except for those related to the present. Moreover, SD patients were affected regardless of the episodic or semantic nature of self-representations into the future. As regards the functional self, self-projection and level of consciousness were only impaired for the future. This study confirms the persistence of a feeling of identity in SD over time for the past and present selves. However, it also highlights the loss of the future self in SD patients. These results are discussed in relation to models of long-term memory and future thinking focusing on the interplay of episodic and semantic memory and mental time travel.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.11.019

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  • In Duval et al. (2012), recall of past self-representations was preserved in semantic dementia, but patients demonstrated significant impairments when thinking about their possible future selves.

    “Whereas recall of past self-representations was preserved, patients with semantic dementia demonstrated significant impairments when thinking about their possible future selves.”

    From Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: evidence from semantic dementia (2012) · cites this paper as Duval et al., 2012

  • The demonstration that semantic memory contributes to the imagining of personal episodic future events, and future self-representations, represents an expansion to the current view of episodic future thinking which, to date, has focused primarily on the role of the medial temporal lobe and episodic memory.

    “The demonstration that semantic memory contributes to the imagining of personal episodic future events, and future selfrepresentations (Duval et al., 2012), represents an expansion to the current view of episodic future thinking which, to date, has focused primarily on the role of the medial temporal lobe and episodic memory (Schacter and Addis, 2007a, b;Race et al., 2011).”

    From Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: evidence from semantic dementia (2012) · cites this paper as Duval et al., 2012

  • Our findings corroborate those from a recent study investigating the link between the self and autobiographical memory in semantic dementia across past, present and future contexts, which also suggests that episodic memory alone may not be sufficient for envisioning the future.

    “Our findings corroborate those from a recent study investigating the link between the self and autobiographical memory in semantic dementia across past, present and future contexts, which also suggests that episodic memory alone may not be sufficient for envisioning the future (Duval et al., 2012).”

    From Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: evidence from semantic dementia (2012) · cites this paper as Duval et al., 2012

  • Taken together, these results highlight the importance of personal semantic information for imagining the future self, and converge with our present findings to show the importance of the semantic memory system for future-oriented thought.

    “Taken together, these results highlight the importance of personal semantic information for imagining the future self (Duval et al. 2012), and converge with our present findings to show the importance of the semantic memory system for future-oriented thought.”

    From Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: evidence from semantic dementia (2012) · cites this paper as Duval et al. 2012

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Authors
Duval, C., Desgranges, B., de La Sayette, V., Belliard, S., Eustache, F., & Piolino, P.
Affiliations
  • Inserm (FR)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
Corresponding author
Piolino, Pascale
ORCID
Venue
Neuropsychologia
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-01
Volume
50
Issue
2
Pages
254-265
ISSN
0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.11.019
OpenAlex
W1998729159
Cited by
138
References
118
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 14
FWCI
24.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
semantic dementia, personal identity, self-concept, autobiographical memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, future self, self-projection, mental time travel, autonoetic consciousness, self-assessment, long-term memory
MeSH terms
Aged, Consciousness, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory Disorders, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Concept, Severity of Illness Index, Positron-Emission Tomography, Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration, Memory, Episodic

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