Figure - uploaded by Mohamad El Haj
Content may be subject to copyright.
Different representational features of episodic memory, event memory, and semantic memory.
Source publication
Mahr & Csibra's (M&C's) proposal that episodic memory has a role in communicative interaction is innovative. However, the model would be strengthened by the inclusion of the construct of destination memory. Destination memory refers to the ability to remember to whom one has sent information. Research has demonstrated that this ability is essential...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... features (1) through (3) pertain to the content (and should thus be shared with event memory), (4) through (5) pertain to the format of episodic memory. The differences between the different kinds of memory capacities discussed above are illustrated in Table 1. ...Context 2
... main problem is that this account says very little about the relationship between semantic and episodic memory, instead endorsing a sharp distinction between these two types of memory (see M&C Table 1). We outline a number of in-principle arguments and review relevant neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence to challenge this distinction. ...Context 3
... is a failure to note that one theory of event memory, which the target article cites (Rubin & Umanath 2015), aims to replace the role played by episodic memory with event memories, defined as memories including scenes, as the key scientifically based distinction. It keeps episodic memory as a special case, which has a whole host of other properties (Tulving 1984, p. 224, Table 1; Rubin & Umanath 2015, p. 3, Table 2), not all of which are related to the communicative function. Unlike the properties of event memory listed as contrasting to episodic memory in Table 1 of the target article, it claims event memories (i.e., memories with scenes) can be epistemically generative and autonoetic. ...Context 4
... keeps episodic memory as a special case, which has a whole host of other properties (Tulving 1984, p. 224, Table 1; Rubin & Umanath 2015, p. 3, Table 2), not all of which are related to the communicative function. Unlike the properties of event memory listed as contrasting to episodic memory in Table 1 of the target article, it claims event memories (i.e., memories with scenes) can be epistemically generative and autonoetic. ...Citations
... Impairments in social cognition in TBI have also been reported by research on destination memory. Destination memory refers to the ability to remember to whom a piece of information was previously transmitted [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Research has demonstrated a decline in destination memory in TBI, which was found Brain Sci. ...
... 2023, 13, 1250 3 of 12 yield positive outcomes for the improvement in the quality of life of patients with TBI. Destination memory is, therefore, a prominent area of research in TBI as, beyond its associations with episodic memory [36], this memory system is intimately associated with social cognition [9][10][11]. Previous research has demonstrated a decline in destination memory in TBI [26]. ...
... Compared with other memory systems (e.g., episodic memory, working memory), destination memory is essentially oriented toward social interactions [9][10][11]13,14,17,19,23]. Supporting this assumption, research has demonstrated how destination memory can vary following the familiarity of interlocutors [43] or their age [73]. ...
Destination memory, which is the ability to remember to whom one has sent information, is intimately associated with social cognition. We assessed whether processing attributes of destinations would improve destination memory in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this cross-sectional study, we tested the destination memory of 24 patients with TBI and 25 control participants in two conditions. On the first one (control condition), we invited participants to tell proverbs to celebrities’ faces in order to decide, on a subsequent recognition test, whether they previously told that proverb to that celebrity or not. On the second condition (experimental introspection condition), the same procedures were repeated. However, after telling the proverbs, we invited participants to introspect about what the destination might believe about the proverbs (e.g., “What do you think that the celebrities would think about the proverbs?”). Group comparisons demonstrated better destination memory after the introspection than when no introspection was implemented in control participants, but there were no significant differences between the two conditions in patients with TBI. However, analyses of individual profiles demonstrated that more than half (n = 13) of the patients with TBI demonstrated better destination memory after introspection. While these results demonstrate a beneficial effect of introspection on destination memory for some cases of patients with TBI, more research is needed to reveal how introspection may influence patients’ memory in social interactions.
... Destination memory refers to the ability to remember to whom a piece of information was previously transmitted (e.g., "did I send that email to John or Mary?") [3][4][5][6]. The concept of destination memory was made prominent by the pioneering work of Koriat and colleagues [7,8], who investigated the tendency of older adults to tell the same story over and over. ...
... Theoretically, the relationship between the decline in memory in general and impaired emotional processing in KS is an open question, as research tends to investigate either memory decline or emotional/affective disorders in KS. At a social level, destination memory is intimately linked with social cognition [3][4][5][6]. In our daily lives, we constantly relay information to colleagues, friends, family members, and/or strangers. ...
... In our daily lives, we constantly relay information to colleagues, friends, family members, and/or strangers. The decline in the ability to remember to whom specific information was previously told (i.e., decline in destination memory) negatively affects communicative efficacy and daily interactions with others [4]. The study of destination memory in KS may thus contribute to the understanding of social interactions in patients with KS, especially when they have to attribute information to its appropriate (e.g., happy or sad) interlocutor. ...
We investigated destination memory, defined as the ability to remember to whom a piece of information was previously transmitted, for emotional destinations (i.e., a happy or sad person) in Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS). We asked patients with KS and control participants to tell facts to neutral, positive, or negative faces. On a subsequent recognition task, participants had to decide to whom they told each fact. Compared with control participants, patients with KS demonstrated lower recognition of neutral, emotionally positive, and emotionally negative destinations. Patients with KS demonstrated lower recognition of emotionally negative than for emotionally positive or neutral destinations, but there were no significant differences between recognition of neutral and emotionally positive destinations. Our study demonstrates a compromised ability to process negative destinations in KS. Our study highlights the relationship between memory decline and impaired emotional processing in KS.
... As expected, young adults indeed showed better performances and higher accuracy than healthy older adults, findings that are in line with previous findings on emotional destination memory [8] as well as with studies of destination memory with no emotional charging [2,3] in young and healthy older adults. As highlighted by El Haj and Miller in their recent review [36], the age-related decline in destination memory may be due to differences in contextual encoding which appears to be compromised in older adults, together with a possible failure to self-initiate deep encoding strategies [37]. On the other hand, episodic memory system has been consistently found to be vulnerable in aging and it is closely connected to reduced volume in medial temporal lobes, the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex [38,39]. ...
Background:
Destination memory, defined as the ability to remember to whom we addressed a piece of information, is found to be impaired in normal aging. Theories on development of affect and research findings have shown that emotional charge improves performance in memory tasks, and also that Mu rhythm is desynchronized as an index of mirror neuron activation during such tasks.
Objective:
In this paper, we sought to investigate the differences in Mu rhythm during an emotional destination memory task between younger and older adults.
Methods:
16 cognitively normal older adults, recruited from Alzheimer's disease day center and 16 young adults, recruited via advertisements, participated in this experimental study. We investigated the destination memory of emotionally charged faces (Emotional Destination Memory, EDM) while applying electroencephalograph (EEG) in real-time in young versus older adults. We measured Mu rhythm in frontal, fronto-temporal and central areas. EEG data has been pre-processed, segmented in non-overlapping epochs, and independent component analysis (ICA) has been conducted to reject artifacts.
Results:
Results showed that young adults performed better than older adults in remembering facts associated with angry faces. Also, a difference in neurophysiological activation was found, with older adults showing Mu suppression in frontal and fronto-temporal regions, specifically in F3, F7 and F8 electrodes, in contrast with young adults who showed Mu enhancement. With regard to the within-group differences, it was found that in the older adults group, electrodes F8 and central C3 were the most activated, while in the young adults group, C3 was the most activated electrode.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest better behavioral performance of young adults as a result of a better cognitive state and adaptive bias. On a neurophysiological level, it is suggested that older adults employ Mu suppression, thus activation of mirror neurons is a possible compensatory mechanism while mirroring properties are not spontaneously activated in young adults.
... Several interpretations can be offered to explain our findings. Source and destination memory are associated with the ability to process characteristics of our interlocutors (El Haj & Miller, 2018). This social processing may be particularly attractive for extraverts and, conversely, particularly challenging for introverts. ...
We evaluated relationship between personality and memory for social interactions. More specifically, we investigated the relationship between extraversion and the ability to remember who told us some information (i.e., source memory) and the ability to remember to whom we told that information (i.e., destination memory). On a source memory task, participants received information from pictures of celebrities; a subsequent recognition test required them to identify the celebrities from whom they had received that information. On a destination memory task, participants were invited to tell information to celebrities; a later recognition task instructed them to identify the celebrity to whom they had previously told that information. Besides the assessment of source and destination memory, participants answered a questionnaire regarding extraversion. Results demonstrated significant positive correlation between extraversion and source memory, as well as significant positive correlation between extraversion and destination memory. In other words, the more participants described themselves as extraverts, the higher their source and destination memory. During social communications (e.g., in a conversation), extraverts may demonstrate high source and destination memory as these individuals typically value social communication, public sharing, and processing of social information.
... A central aspect of social cognition is theory of mind, which is defined as the ability to ascribe cognitive and affective states to others and infer their intentions from feedback (Premack & Woodruff, 1978). Theory of mind was found to be compromised in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and this compromise was found to be related to the ability to remember to whom a piece of information was relayed (i.e., destination memory) (El Haj & Miller, 2018;El Haj, Allain, & Kessels, 2014a). The present study investigated whether introspection of others' mental states would result in better destination memory in AD. ...
Objective:
Theory of mind and destination memory are social abilities that require processing the attributes of interlocutors. Empirical research has demonstrated a relationship between performance on both abilities in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We therefore investigated whether processing attributes of interlocutors would result in better destination memory in AD.
Methods:
Twenty-six mild AD participants and 28 controls were tested on two occasions. On the first one, participants had to tell proverbs to celebrities' faces. Following that, they decided whether they previously told that proverb to that celebrity or not. The same procedures were repeated on the second occasion; however, after telling the proverbs, participants had to introspect about what the celebrities might think about the proverbs (e.g., "what do you think that the celebrities would think about the proverbs?").
Results:
Group comparisons showed a beneficial effect of introspection on destination memory in controls (Z = -2.57, p < .05) but not in AD participants (Z = -1.05, p = .29). However, analyzes of individual profiles demonstrated that 15 AD participants demonstrated better destination memory after introspection.
Conclusions:
Our findings show a beneficial effect of introspection on destination memory in normal aging, and at least in some mild AD cases. Future research should investigate the influence of social cognition on memory in AD and how introspection may provide a potential treatment for AD.
... Empirical evidence has demonstrated significant correlations between destination memory and context memory [11,12]. This relationship can be attributed to the fact that both destination and context memory require the process of binding [13]. Binding refers to the ability to associate an event (the what) with its context of acquisition (the where, when, who, and/or to whom) to form an integrated episode [14]. ...
... Considering the research suggesting compromise of context memory in TBI patients [15], we expected to find a similar compromise in destination memory. Since destination memory is believed to be dependent on binding (i.e., associating information to its corresponding destination) [13], we expected to find significant correlations between destination memory and binding in TBI patients. The TBI participants were at least 1-year post-injury and had suffered severe closed-head injuries as indicated by posttraumatic amnesia (M = 22.32 days, SD = 22.61, range = 1 to 152 days). ...
... As emphasized in the introduction, the specificity of destination memory lies in its social relevance (for a review, see [13]). Supporting this assumption, research has demonstrated higher memory for familiar than for unfamiliar destinations [4] and better memory for emotional than for neutral destinations [5,6]. ...
Destination memory, which is socially driven, refers to the ability to remember to whom one has sent information. Our study investigated destination memory in patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Patients and control participants were invited to tell proverbs (e.g., “the pen is mightier than the sword”) to pictures of celebrities (e.g., Barack Obama). Then they were asked to indicate to which celebrity they had previously told the proverbs. Besides the assessment of destination memory, participants performed a binding task in which they were required to associate letters with their corresponding location. Analysis demonstrated less destination memory and binding in patients with TBIs than in controls. In both populations, significant correlations were observed between destination memory and performances on the binding task. These findings demonstrate difficulty in the ability to attribute information to its appropriate destination in TBI patients, perhaps owing to difficulties in binding separate information together to form a coherent representation of an event in memory.
... Nous sollicitons très régulièrement notre mémoire de destination pour traiter ce type d'interrogation de la vie quotidienne. Cette forme de mémoire se réfère à l'habileté qui nous permet de nous souvenir des personnes à qui nous adressons des informations ou des messages [1]. Selon cette définition, la mémoire de destination peut être envisagée comme une aptitude mnésique permettant la spécification du contexte dans lequel un souvenir a été appris, ce qui contribue à définir sa dimension épisodique. ...
Within the field of memory research, studies on destination memory (e.g., the ability to remember to whom information was previously told) show how it is closely associated with social cognition. The present review thus summarizes the literature on destination memory and demonstrates how it involves social interaction. It offers a comprehensive picture of the many factors that may influence destination memory and distinguishes factors related to the recipient (e.g., familiarity, emotional states, and distinctiveness/attractiveness) and sender of information (e.g., the sender’s extroversion) in social communications. It suggests that destination memory involves the ability of the sender to infer the cognitive/affective state of the recipient and to attribute the output message to a recipient-related stereotype. Extrovert senders may also easily remember the destination as they typically value social communication, public sharing and processing of social information. Destination memory also involves features such as familiarity, age, emotional state, distinctiveness, and attractiveness of the recipient. By offering a comprehensive framework of how destination memory functions in everyday life interactions, the present review shows how destination memory is intimately associated with communicative efficacy and social interactions.
Destination memory, the ability to remember to whom information was previously delivered, has found to be influenced by social processing and social interactions. This memory has also been shown to be compromised in normal aging. Our paper investigated whether older adults would demonstrate better destination memory for self-related information than for general information.
Methods:
We asked younger adults and older adults to tell self-related information (e.g., "I like Chinese food") and semantic information (e.g., "the moon is smaller than the sun") to pictures of celebrities (e.g., Elvis Presley).
Results:
Analysis showed higher destination memory for self-related information than for semantic information in older adults and younger adults.
Discussion:
Older adults may draw on self-related information to improve memory and social interactions.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has been widely associated with impairment of social cognition. We therefore investigated the relationship between the ability to infer and predict other’s mental states (i.e., Theory of Mind, ToM) and the ability to remember to whom one has sent information (i.e., destination memory). We invited patients with TBI and control subjects, on a destination memory task, to tell proverbs to pictures of celebrities, so as to remember to which celebrity they had previously told the proverbs. Participants also performed affective (i.e., Reading the Mind in the Eyes) and cognitive (i.e., the false belief) tests of ToM. Results demonstrated lower destination memory, affective, and cognitive ToM performance in TBI patients than in control subjects. Critically, analysis demonstrated significant positive correlations between destination memory and first order and second cognitive order ToM in patients with TBI, but no significant correlations between destination memory and affective ToM in these patients. Our results demonstrate a relationship between difficulties of TBI patients to infer and predict cognitive states of interlocutors and difficulties to remember to which interlocutor information has been told.
