The Neural Basis of Autobiographical Memory

Abstract

Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have led to significant progress in our understanding of how the personal past is represented in the brain. A key insight has been the degree to which autobiographical memory (AM) is structured according to self-related processes. This chapter addresses the role of the self in organizing AM in three key areas: (1) processing of self-related information, (2) awareness of the self in time (i.e. autonoetic consciousness), and (3) the centrality of egocentric visual perspective. There are exciting areas for future research that capitalize on the benefits of recent advances in fully immersive virtual reality technologies.