The era of our lives
The memory of Korsakoff patients for the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in the Netherlands
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20409459 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dianne Herrmann (Utrecht University, corresponding author), Erik Oudman (0000-0002-4441-0365, Utrecht University), Albert Postma (0000-0003-4260-7807, Utrecht University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Pages | 103454 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Consciousness and Cognition (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-8100 • E-ISSN: 1090-2376 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103454 |
| PMID | 36525743 |
| OpenAlex | W4311462470 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
Memories for worldwide and emotional events (such as 9/11) are more vividly relived and recalled than memories for everyday events. Previous studies have shown that flashbulb memories of a single event enhanced the memory strength in severe amnesia. It is currently unknown whether macro-events that stretch out over longer periods of time (weeks, months) strengthen memory even further. Our aim was therefore to investigate to what extent patients with severe amnesia, due to Korsakoff's syndrome (KS), were able to relive the first Covid-19 lockdown in the Netherlands, and whether experienced emotions enhanced reliving of the participants. We included 22 KS patients and 24 age-, education-, and gender-matched healthy controls. Covid-19 related memories were assessed by measures of autobiographical memory specificity, phenomenological reliving, emotional intensity and semantic-and episodic knowledge about the first lockdown in March 2020 - May 2020 in the Netherlands. Although amnesia patients remembered significantly fewer autobiographical details regarding the Covid-19 lockdown than healthy controls, one fourth of the KS patients recalled specific events. Amnesia patients reported levels of emotional intensity equivalent to those in the control group. Stronger autobiographical reliving was associated with higher emotional intensity. Both amnesia patients and healthy controls had higher recall of episodic than semantic lockdown related information. In conclusion, results demonstrate that information for macro-events can still be memorized and relived, most specifically when emotional valence is high, even by highly amnestic patients
Amnesia · Autobiographical memory · Childhood amnesia · Childhood memory · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Disease · Episodic memory · Psychiatry · Recall · Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Medicine · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Psychology
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |