title: Recovering and preventing loss of detailed memory: differential rates of forgetting for detail types in episodic memory.
abstract: Episodic memories undergo qualitative changes with time, but little is known about how different aspects of memory are affected. Different types of information in a memory, such as perceptual detail, and central themes, may be lost at different rates. In patients with medial temporal lobe damage, memory for perceptual details is severely impaired, while memory for central details is relatively spared. Given the sensitivity of memory to loss of details, the present study sought to investigate factors that mediate the forgetting of different types of information from naturalistic episodic memories in young healthy adults. The study investigated (1) time-dependent loss of "central" and "peripheral" details from episodic memories, (2) the effectiveness of cuing with reminders to reinstate memory details, and (3) the role of retrieval in preventing forgetting. Over the course of 7 d, memory for naturalistic events (film clips) underwent a time-dependent loss of peripheral details, while memory for central details (the core or gist of events) showed significantly less loss. Giving brief reminders of the clips just before retrieval reinstated memory for peripheral details, suggesting that loss of details is not always permanent, and may reflect both a storage and retrieval deficit. Furthermore, retrieving a memory shortly after it was encoded prevented loss of both central and peripheral details, thereby promoting retention over time. We consider the implications of these results for behavioral and neurobiological models of retention and forgetting.
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1 Canada msekeres@research.baycrest.org.
authors.forename: Melanie J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sekeres
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada.
authors.forename: Kyra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bonasia
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1 Canada.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: St-Laurent
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pishdadian
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1 Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8 Canada.
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Winocur
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1 Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1 Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G3 Canada Department of Psychology, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1 Canada.
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moscovitch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult