Cited by 328Memory Processes and InfluencesMemory and Neural MechanismsCognitive Functions and Memory

Medial temporal lobe damage causes deficits in episodic memory and episodic future thinking not attributable to deficits in narrative construction

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Race, E., Keane, M. M., Verfaellie, M.·2011·Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) makes critical contributions to episodic memory, but its contributions to episodic future thinking remain a matter of debate. By one view, imagining future events relies on MTL mechanisms that also support memory for past events. Alternatively, it has recently been suggested that future thinking is independent of MTL-mediated processes and can be supported by regions outside the MTL. The current study investigated the nature and necessity of MTL involvement in imagining the future and tested the novel hypothesis that the MTL contributes to future thinking by supporting online binding processes related to narrative construction. Human amnesic patients with well characterized MTL damage and healthy controls constructed narratives about (1) future events, (2) past events, and (3) visually presented pictures. While all three tasks place similar demands on narrative construction, only the past and future conditions require memory/future thinking to mentally generate relevant narrative information. Patients produced impoverished descriptions of both past and future events but were unimpaired at producing detailed picture narratives. In addition, future-thinking performance positively correlated with episodic memory performance but did not correlate with picture narrative performance. Finally, future-thinking impairments were present when MTL lesions were restricted to the hippocampus and did not depend on the presence of neural damage outside the MTL. These results indicate that the ability to generate and maintain a detailed narrative is preserved in amnesia and suggest that a common MTL mechanism supports both episodic memory and episodic future thinking.

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Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.1145-11.2011

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  • Reductions in episodic detail for both past and future events on the Autobiographical Interview and related procedures have been documented in multiple patient populations, including depression, PTSD, amnesic syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, temporal lobe epilepsy, schizophrenia, prefrontal lesions, and long-term opiate users.

    “Reductions in episodic detail for both past and future events using the AI and related procedures have also been documented in various patient populations”

    From Episodic Future Thinking: Mechanisms and Functions (2017) · cites this paper as [26]

    The Results report fewer episodic details for both past and future events in patients than in controls, and Materials and Methods > Scoring says the study used an adapted Autobiographical Interview procedure. Materials and Methods > Participants identifies these patients as people with amnesia and medial temporal lobe lesions. The paper does not document the claimed reductions across the other listed patient populations. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Some amnesic patients with hippocampal damage exhibit deficits when imagining future experiences, but not all studies reveal such deficits.

    “some amnesic patients with hippocampal damage also exhibit deficits when imagining future experiences (25–26), but not all studies reveal such deficits (28).”

    From Episodic Future Thinking: Mechanisms and Functions (2017) · cites this paper as [26]

  • 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).”

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Authors
Race, E., Keane, M. M., & Verfaellie, M.
Affiliations
Boston University (US)
Venue
Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2011-07-13
Volume
31
Issue
28
Pages
10262-10269
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2055540478
Cited by
328
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 33 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 28
FWCI
12.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
public-domain
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH093431)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (F32NS073212)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Keywords
medial temporal lobe, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, narrative construction, amnesia, hippocampus, mental imagery, binding processes, picture stories
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Amnesia, Hypoxia, Brain, Encephalitis, Female, Humans, Imagination, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Mental Recall, Temporal Lobe

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