Episodic memory, an essential part of our autobiography

What were you doing yesterday at ten in the morning? How was your first day of school? When did you last go to a party? How did you celebrate your last birthday? To answer these questions you required a special type of memory that would allow you to build those memories of what you once experienced. We know this memory as episodic memory.

In this type of memory, we are the protagonists, we are the central reference for its content. Every situation, episode or experience of our life is stored in it.

Episodic memory is an essential part of our autobiography. What is episodic memory? What are their characteristics? What disorders are associated with its deficiency? Let’s analyze.

episodic memory

Episodic memory is a type of declarative memory.

It’s a cognitive process that allows us to store and remember a personal experience. It houses information about where and when what we remember happened. Its content is properly spatiotemporal and subjective, that is, it only refers to episodes of life that we have experienced in the first person within a specific context and moment.

In addition to temporal and spatial knowledge, episodic memory also gives us access to information about the event itself. It helps us build narratives about how it happened and the emotional impact it had on us.. The link between time, space and subjectivity is very close in this type of memory.

Episodic memories have the property of being evoked intentionally, but also unintentionally.. For example, when we find ourselves in a situation that reminds us of another in which we had a pleasant or unpleasant experience.

The associations established when encoding and consolidating a memory are the main ingredient for other stimuli, experiences or situations to evoke episodic memories of the past.

Episodic memory is mediated by different brain regions, including neocortical association areas, the medial temporal lobe, the hippocampus, and parahippocampal areas. In this type of memory, the hippocampus plays very important functions, such as integrating information about representations of objects made by the perirhinal cortex and that of specific visual scenes made by the entorhinal cortex.

The prefrontal lobe also has considerable influence on the reconstruction of episodic memory. Enables the activation and proper functioning of working memory. This type of memory is central to remembering any information, since it is what keeps the content in the mind while it is narrated or remembered.

Characteristics of episodic memory

The main characteristics of episodic memory are the following:

It is a type of declarative memory about the personal experiences lived within the framework of a spatial and temporal context. It is a central component for the construction of the life biography and the consolidation of autobiographical memory.Always alludes to the life of the selfto the person who lives and experiences each episode of his or her life. It contains records of the processing of sensory, perceptual, conceptual and affective information. It is represented and evoked in the form of visual images.Allows access to autobiographical memories.It requires a conscious recollection of experiences. They represent a temporal dimension of the experience. Even if it’s only in segments. It’s quickly forgotten.

Types of episodic memory

Memories of episodic memory can be presented in different ways. Let’s see.

Specific events

They are those specific events that we remember clearly. For example, when you remember that time you went to the sea and sailed on a jet ski. When you remember this type of content you always do it about a particular situation.

General events

These memories, unlike the previous ones, They are no longer about a particular situation, but about several situations in general. For example, when you remember that you have gone to the sea several times and that you have sailed on a jet ski, but you do not remember a particular situation or experience about them. Also when you remember the taste of pizza, but you don’t remember every flavor of pizza you’ve ever tried.

Personal information

They are those memories linked to the person, and not so much to the situation. For example, when you remember the name of your first pet or when you remember the clothes you wore on graduation day. They are memories that, although they appear in a particular context, are associated with the subjective experience of the person who experiences them, the person and their identity.

Memories flashbulb

The memories flashbulb They are vivid and They are associated with emotionally impactful events (public or personal). For example, when you remember the exact moment you found out about the death of a family member.

Associated disorders

In amnesia, Alzheimer’s and Korsakoff syndrome, episodic memory is altered.

There are several disorders or diseases that can affect a person’s episodic memory. One of the most prominent is Alzheimer’s disease in which the person gradually loses – in addition to other faculties – the ability to remember past events. Memory suffers a global deterioration that affects the different types of memories that the person has.

Korsakoff syndrome is also strongly associated with disorders in episodic memory. This syndrome is caused by vitamin B1 deficiency, caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Its main symptom is severe memory loss that incapacitates the person from accessing their past experiences.

In line with the above, Another disorder strongly associated with problems in episodic memory is amnesia. This is characterized by a loss in the ability to remember past events or learned knowledge. There are two well-known types of amnesia, retrograde, which is the inability to access already stored memories, and anterograde, which is the inability to acquire new memories. These problems are usually caused by brain injuries.

Another type of amnesia that affects episodic memory is dissociative amnesia. This amnesia is product of a traumatic or stressful experience, and not of a brain injury. It has no organic cause. When this amnesia occurs, the person is unable to remember the traumatic episode. She dissociates from him as a defense mechanism.

Among other problems associated with the loss of episodic memory we find mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and spongiform encephalopathies. As we can see, episodic memory is not only susceptible to the passage of time, but also to multiple mental illnesses and disorders.

Episodic memory has a very powerful adaptive nature. The most valuable and unpleasant experiences we have had are still present thanks to that ability to reconstruct each episode, each moment, each context and each feeling that we have had and experienced throughout our short existence. In this memory system is a good part of what we believe we are.

You might be interested…