Dissociation between Specific Personal Episodes and other Aspects of Remote Memory in a Patient with Hippocampal Amnesia

Abstract

In this paper, we describe some features of remote memory in a single-case, Y.K., with amnesic syndrome. His ability to access remote memory was investigated through a variety of tests and then analyzed in terms of specific aspects of remote memory, i.e., public events, personal semantic memory, and specific personal episodes. Although Y.K. showed relatively good performance in recalling public events, personal semantic memory, and general personal events, he was not able to recall specific personal episodes over his entire life span. That is, there appears a clear dissociation between recalling specific personal episodes and other aspects of remote memory. This suggests he lacks “richness” in his remote memory, which is probably necessary to maintain one's own identity.