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Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is one of the significant neurological disorders that mostly affects over-60-year-old adults. In essence, FTD, which results from frontal and temporal lobe damages, manifests itself in several ways that include behavioral modifications as well as linguistic loss. These are behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA), or various movement disorders with genetic links. FTD takes, on average, three years to be diagnosed since there are no definitive diagnostic tests for this disease. MRI and PET scans use brain imaging techniques to observe damaged parts of the brain. The case study shows a lot of deep-seated language deficits and memory impairments, which ultimately point to the involvement of the temporal lobe. Understanding about FTD and early detection are crucial in enhancing intervention as well as management efforts.

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A small wearable camera, SenseCam, passively captured pictures from everyday experience that were later used to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of autobiographical memory. Nine undergraduates wore SenseCams that took pictures every 10 s for two days. After one week and one month, participants first recalled their experiences from specific time periods (timeslices), then reviewed the corresponding pictures to make corrections and report information omitted from initial recall. Results demonstrated the utility of wearable cameras as research tools, and illustrated several characteristics of everyday memory. Recall contents reflected the structure of undergraduate lives. Three different types of omissions were reported: neglected, reminded, and forgotten. Pictures stimulated memory, even for non-visual information (e.g., feelings, thoughts), increasing recall by 23%. The mean completeness of initial recall was 79% (upper bound), with at least 21% forgetting. Accuracy was self-scored by participants (M = 89%), and the mean error rate (11%) provided evidence against strong reconstructive and copy theories of memory. The characteristics of errors shed light on the cognitive processes underlying them. Ratings of recall (confidence, reliving, knowledge, and frequency) supported the episodic/semantic distinction, the dual-process theory of repetition, and reconstructive imagery. Metamemory measures showed a positive correlation between confidence and accuracy.

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Animal models of traumatic brain injury (TBI) have shown that impaired motor and cognitive function can be improved by physical exercise. However, not each animal with TBI can be well rehabilitated at the same training intensity due to a high inter-subject variability. Hence, this paper presents a two-stage wheel-based mixed-mode rehabilitation mechanism by which the effect of stress on the rehabilitation performance was investigated. The mixed-mode rehabilitation mechanism consists of a two-week adaptive and a one-week voluntary rehabilitation program as Stages 1 and 2, respectively. In Stage 1, the common over and undertraining problem were completely resolved due to the adaptive design, and rats ran voluntarily over a 30-min duration in Stage 2. The training intensity adapted to the physical condition of all the TBI rats at all times in Stage 1, and then the self-motivated running rats were further rehabilitated under the lowest level of stress in Stage 2. For comparison purposes, another group of rats took a 3-week adaptive rehabilitation program. During the 3-week program, the rehabilitation performance of the rats were assessed using modified neurologic severity score (mNSS) and an 8-arm radial maze. Surprisingly, the group taking the mixed mode program turned out to outperform its counterpart in terms of mNSS. The mixed-mode rehabilitation mechanism was validated as an effective and efficient way to help rats restore motor, neurological and cognitive function after TBI. It was validated that the rehabilitation performance can be optimized under the lowest level of stress.

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Retrieved memories of past events are often inaccurate. The scenario construction model (SCM) postulates that during encoding, only the gist of an episode is stored in the episodic memory trace and during retrieval, information missing from that trace is constructed from semantic information. The current study aimed to find behavioural evidence for semantic construction in a realistic, yet controlled setting by introducing a completely new paradigm and adjusted memory tests that measure semantic construction. Using a desktop virtual reality (VR), participants navigated through a flat in which some household objects appeared in unexpected rooms, creating conflicts between the experienced episode and semantic expectations. The manipulation of congruence enabled us to identify influences from semantic information in cases of episodic memory failure during recall. Besides, we controlled for objects to be task-relevant or task-irrelevant to the sequence of action. In addition to an established old/new recognition task we introduced spatial and temporal recall measures as possible superior memory measures quantifying semantic construction. The recognition task and the spatial recall revealed that both congruence and task-relevance predicted correct episodic memory retrieval. In cases of episodic memory failure, semantic construction was more likely than guessing and occurred more frequently for task-irrelevant objects. In the temporal recall object-pairs belonging to the same semantic room-category were temporally clustered together compared with object-pairs from different semantic categories (at the second retrieval delay). Taken together, our findings support the predictions of the SCM. The new VR paradigm, including the new memory measures appears to be a promising tool for investigating semantic construction.

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A common method used by memory scholars to enhance retention is to make materials more challenging to learn-a benefit termed desirable difficulties. Recently, researchers have investigated the efficacy of Sans Forgetica, a perceptually disfluent/distinctive font which may increase processing effort required at study and enhance memory as a result. We examined the effects of Sans Forgetica relative to a standard control font (Arial) on both correct memory and associative memory errors using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm, to evaluate Sans Forgetica effects on overall memory accuracy. Across four experiments, which included nearly 300 participants, Sans Forgetica was found to have no impact on correct or false memory of DRM lists relative to a standard Arial control font, regardless of whether font type was manipulated within or between subjects or whether memory was assessed via free recall or recognition testing. Our results indicate that Sans Forgetica is ineffective for improving memory accuracy even when accounting for associative memory errors.

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The Mandela effect is an Internet phenomenon describing shared and consistent false memories for specific icons in popular culture. The visual Mandela effect is a Mandela effect specific to visual icons (e.g., the Monopoly Man is falsely remembered as having a monocle) and has not yet been empirically quantified or tested. In Experiment 1 (N = 100 adults), we demonstrated that certain images from popular iconography elicit consistent, specific false memories. In Experiment 2 (N = 60 adults), using eye-tracking-like methods, we found no attentional or visual differences that drive this phenomenon. There is no clear difference in the natural visual experience of these images (Experiment 3), and these errors also occur spontaneously during recall (Experiment 4; N = 50 adults). These results demonstrate that there are certain images for which people consistently make the same false-memory error, despite the majority of visual experience being the canonical image.

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The question of whether human memory is reliable generated extensive research. Memory is open to reconstruction and false retrieval of unpresented information or unexperienced events. These can create problems in judgments and decisions that rely on memory accuracy. In the case of eyewitness testimony, these problems can result in injustice. Then again, memory is also reliable enough. Information acquisition, processing, and retrieval capacity of our memory made it possible to survive the course of evolution. Our memory also makes it possible to continue our daily lives, most of the time without major problems. In the present review, we suggest that the right question to ask may not be whether memory is reliable, but rather to ask when and under what circumstances memory is more reliable. The review's educational aim is to identify the conditions under which memory is more versus less reliable, and its theoretical aim is to discuss memory reliability. We reviewed the literature on situational, emotional, social, and individual difference variables that affect memory reliability, identified the conditions under which memory is more versus less reliable, summarized these outcomes as easy-to-reach items, and discussed them in the light of major theories. Our discussion also touched upon the differentiation of societal myths about the reliability of memory from scientific findings, since believing in memory myths can also affect the reliability of memory. Awareness of the specific circumstances under which memory is more reliable can lead to the consideration of how much memory can be trusted under those specific circumstances.

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Memory serves critical functions in everyday life, but it is also vulnerable to error and illusion. Two decades ago, I proposed that memory errors could be classified into seven basic categories or "sins": transience, absent-mindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence. I argued that each of the seven sins provides important insights concerning the fundamentally constructive nature of human memory, while at the same time reflecting its adaptive features. In this article I briefly summarise some key developments during the past two decades that have increased our understanding of the nature, consequences, and adaptive functions of the memory sins.

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The constructive nature of memory implies a possible confusion between details of similar events. Memory interventions should thus target the reduction of memory errors. We postulate that a brief intervention called Episodic Specificity Induction (ESI) facilitates the sensorimotor simulation of event-related details by improving the distinctiveness of the event memory trace. As such, ESI should reduce memory errors only when event memory traces are strongly overlapping based on their sensorimotor features. Participants memorised videos showing characters performing an action on a given object. The characters were either visually very similar to each other or very distinct (low vs. high distinctiveness condition). Next, participants performed either an imagination version of the ESI or a control induction. Finally, a voice announced one of the actions seen and a character was then briefly displayed. The participants had to indicate whether the association was correct. For incorrect associations, in the low distinctiveness condition, false alarms were more likely than in the high distinctiveness condition and were reduced after the ESI. It suggests that facilitating the simulation of specific details through the ESI increased trace distinctiveness and reduced memory errors at the critical time of event reconstruction. Future clinical applications might be possible.

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Error processing in complex decision tasks should be more difficult compared to a simple and commonly used two-choice task. We developed an eight-alternative response task (8ART), which allowed us to investigate different aspects of error detection. We analysed event-related potentials (ERP; N = 30). Interestingly, the response time moderated several findings. For example, only for fast responses, we observed the well-known effect of larger error negativity (Ne) in signalled and non-signalled errors compared to correct responses, but not for slow responses. We identified at least two different error sources due to post-experimental reports and certainty ratings: impulsive (fast) errors and (slow) memory errors. Interestingly, the participants were able to perform the task and to identify both, impulsive and memory errors successfully. Preliminary evidence indicated that early (Ne-related) error processing was not sensitive to memory errors but to impulsive errors, whereas the error positivity seemed to be sensitive to both error types.

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Previous studies demonstrated that memory accuracy is affected by the availability of the individual's cognitive resources. A predominant role in complex cognition has been postulated for executive functions (EF). The aim of the present study was to verify if there are differences in remembering a crime with respect to the individual's EF availability (i.e., Shifting, Inhibition, and Updating). We showed participants a video of a violent crime. Next, they were requested to imagine to be an eyewitness of the crime and report a testimony as detailed as possible. A subsequent memory test was run after ten days. EF resources were assessed in a third session through three neuropsychological tasks. Findings showed that high EF individuals reported more correct details and fewer memory distortions (i.e., omissions and commissions) than low EF individuals. Our results underline that individual EF resources are implicated in the recalling of an event.

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Errors of source monitoring are widespread human memory challenges, and our memories are subject to distortion upon the presentation of subsequent misinformation. Less is known about if and when misinformation effects occur in nonhuman species' memory. Here we tested a symbol-trained chimpanzee's recall memory of a hidden food item's identity after a 10-min delay. During this delay, the subject was sometimes (depending on the condition) shown consistent or inconsistent video information about the identity of the food, before being asked to name the item to a second experimenter blind to the reward and condition. Across all conditions, our subject, Sherman, correctly named the food item at above chance levels. In the Inconsistent condition, in which Sherman was shown a video with misleading information, his performance was the worst of all conditions (although accuracy was still high). Interestingly, however, during three of the four trials in this condition in which Sherman made a mistake, he incorrectly named the food item shown during the misleading video information. These results provide evidence that chimpanzees, like humans, may be vulnerable to misinformation effects, even when that misleading information is presented in a different modality (video) than the original live event memory, demonstrating further commonality between human and ape memory systems.

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Previous studies demonstrated that, when asked to honestly provide information about a mock crime, former feigners performed worse than those who were requested to confess to this event. Thus, feigning amnesia for a mock crime undermined genuine memory for the same experience. In the present study, we examined whether retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) underlies this memory-undermining effect. After watching a mock crime, participants had to feign amnesia or confess to having committed that crime. Feigners were given retrieval practice instructions (i.e., retrieval-practice group) or no further instructions (i.e., control group). Immediately and 1 day later, all participants had to genuinely report what they remembered about the crime. Although simulators in the retrieval-practice group recalled the largest amount of information as a positive consequence of retrieval, the ratio for crucial crime-related details was lower than that exhibited by both simulators who were given no instructions and confessors. These findings suggest that RIF might play a role in forgetting critical information in claims of crime-related amnesia. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

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Brain dynamics of memory formation were explored during encoding and retention intervals of a visual working memory task. EEG data were acquired while subjects were exposed to grayscale images of widely known object categories (e.g., "luggage," "chair," and "car"). Following a short delay, two probes were shown to test memory accuracy. Oscillatory portraits of successful and erroneous memories were contrasted. Where significant differences were identified, oscillatory traits of false memories (i.e., when a novel probe item of the same category is recognized as familiar) were compared with those of successful and erroneous memories. Spectral analysis revealed theta (6-8 Hz) power over occipital channels for encoding of successful and false memories that was smaller when compared to other types of memory errors. The reduced theta power indicates successful encoding and reflects the efficient activation of the underlying neural assemblies. Prominent alpha-beta (10-26 Hz) activity belonging to the right parieto-occipital channels was identified during the retention interval. It was found to be larger for false memories and errors than that of correctly answered trials. High levels of alpha-beta oscillatory activity for errors correspond to poor maintenance leading to inefficient allocation of WM resources. In case of false memories, this would imply necessary cognitive effort to manage the extra semantic and perceptual load induced by the encoded stimuli.

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In this article I discuss some of the major questions, findings, and ideas that have driven my research program, which has examined various aspects of human memory using a combination of cognitive, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging approaches. I do so from a career perspective that describes important scientific influences that have shaped my approach to the study of memory and discusses considerations that led to choosing specific research paths. After acknowledging key early influences, I briefly summarize a few of the main takeaways from research on implicit memory during the 1980s and 1990s and then move on to consider more recent ideas and findings concerning constructive memory, future imagining, and mental simulation that have motivated my approach for the past 2 decades. A main unifying theme of this research is that memory can affect psychological functions in ways that go beyond the simple everyday understanding of memory as a means of revisiting past experiences.

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Resumo Este trabalho consiste numa revisão teórica com o objetivo de enquadrar historicamente o modo como as falsas memórias têm sido estudadas. Embora a maior parte dos estudos sobre falsas memórias tenha sido realizada a partir da última década do século XX, os primeiros datam do final do século XIX. Assim, e com o objetivo de assinalar os grandes marcos históricos na investigação das falsas memórias, começam por apresentar-se os estudos pioneiros realizados ainda no século XIX, bem como as pesquisas realizadas sobre o efeito das perguntas nos relatos de crianças e adultos. Posteriormente, apresentam-se as primeiras pesquisas realizadas com o objetivo específico de estudar o efeito de perguntas sugestivas no aparecimento de falsas memórias, seguidas dos estudos que recorreram a uma abordagem naturalista tendo-se tornado decisivos para a compreensão deste fenômeno. Já na segunda metade do século XX, ganha peso uma abordagem mais cognitivista no estudo deste fenômeno, e surgem os paradigmas da desinformação e DRM, que serão também discutidos. Ao longo do texto, reflete-se também sobre os mecanismos que foram considerados como estando na base do aparecimento das falsas memórias, bem como sobre as implicações científicas e sociais deste fenómeno.

Resumen Este trabajo consiste en una revisión teórica con el objetivo de encuadrar históricamente la forma en que las falsas memorias han sido estudiadas. Aunque la mayoría de los estudios sobre falsas memorias se han realizado a partir de la última década del siglo XX, los primeros datan del final del siglo XIX. Con el objetivo de señalar los grandes hitos históricos en la investigación de las falsas memorias, comienzan por presentarse los estudios pioneros realizados aún en el siglo XIX, así como las investigaciones realizadas sobre el efecto de las preguntas en los informes de niños y adultos. Posteriormente, se presentan las investigaciones realizadas con el objetivo específico de estudiar el efecto de preguntas sugestivas en las falsas memorias, seguidas de los estudios que recurrieron a un abordaje naturalista y se tornaran decisivos para la comprensión de este fenómeno. En la segunda mitad del siglo XX, gana peso un enfoque más cognitivista en el estudio de este fenómeno y surgen los paradigmas de la desinformación y DRM. Durante el texto, se refleja también sobre los mecanismos que se consideraron como la base de la aparición de las falsas memorias, así como sobre las implicaciones científicas y sociales de este fenómeno.

Abstract This work consists of a theoretical review with the aim of historically framing the way false memories have been studied. Although most of the studies on false memories have been developed since the last decade of the 20th century, the earliest is dated from the late 19th century. With the aim of pointing out the great historical milestones in the research of false memories, the pioneering studies carried out in the 19th century, as well as the researches on the effect of the questions on the reports of children and adults, are presented. Subsequently, we present the first researches carried out with the specific objective of studying the effect of suggestive questions on the production of false memories, followed by those who used a naturalistic approach and become decisive for the understanding of this phenomenon. In the second half of the 20th century, a more cognitive approach takes place, and the paradigms of misinformation and DRM arise, which will also be discussed. Throughout the manuscript, it is also reflected on the mechanisms that were considered to be the basis of the production of the false memories, as well as on the scientific and social implications of this phenomenon.

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Boundary extension is a common false memory error, in which people confidently remember seeing a wider angle view of the scene than was viewed. Previous research found that boundary extension is scene-specific and did not examine this phenomenon in nonscenes. The present research explored boundary extension in cropped face images. Participants completed either a short-term or a long-term condition of the task. During the encoding, they observed photographs of faces, cropped either in a forehead or in a chin area, and subsequently performed face recognition through a forced-choice selection. The recognition options represented different degrees of boundary extension and boundary restriction errors. Eye-tracking and performance data were collected. The results demonstrated boundary extension in both memory conditions. Furthermore, previous literature reported the asymmetry in amounts of expansion at different sides of an image. The present work provides the evidence of asymmetry in boundary extension. In the short-term condition, boundary extension errors were more pronounced for forehead, than for chin face areas. Finally, this research examined the relationships between the measures of boundary extension, imagery, and emotion. The results suggest that individual differences in emotional ability and object, but not spatial, imagery could be associated with boundary extension in face processing.

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Evaluating alternatives and comparing them to each other are integral to decision-making. In addition, however, decision makers may adopt a view that goes beyond choice and make inferences about the entire set of alternatives, about the dimensions that are relevant in similar decisions, and about the range of values on a specific dimension. We examined some antecedents and consequences of adopting a beyond-choice view of decision situations. Based on Construal Level Theory we suggest that a beyond-choice view entails high (vs. low) level of construal of the decision situation and hence is more likely to occur for decisions that are more psychologically distant. We further suggest that a consequence of a beyond-choice view might be a later difficulty to remember which attribute belongs to which alternative. To examine these predictions we conducted an experiment in which participants evaluated decision scenarios that were described as being relevant for the distant (vs. the near) future. One day later they answered a decision-related source recognition test in which they were asked to remember which attribute belongs to which alternative. As predicted, people had more source-memory errors in the distant than in the near future condition. These results suggest that a beyond-choice view of decision situations is an important consequence of psychological distance (vs. proximity).

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Despite knowing a familiar individual (such as a daughter) well, anecdotal evidence suggests that naming errors can occur among very familiar individuals. Here, we investigate the conditions surrounding these types of errors, or misnamings, in which a person (the misnamer) incorrectly calls a familiar individual (the misnamed) by someone else's name (the named). Across 5 studies including over 1,700 participants, we investigated the prevalence of the phenomenon of misnaming, identified factors underlying why it may occur, and tested potential mechanisms. We included undergraduates and MTurk workers and asked questions of both the misnamed and the misnamer. We find that familiar individuals are often misnamed with the name of another member of the same semantic category; family members are misnamed with another family member's name and friends are misnamed with another friend's name. Phonetic similarity between names also leads to misnamings; however, the size of this effect was smaller than that of the semantic category effect. Overall, the misnaming of familiar individuals is driven by the relationship between the misnamer, misnamed, and named; phonetic similarity between the incorrect name used by the misnamer and the correct name also plays a role in misnaming.

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We tested the influence of causal links on the production of memory errors in a misinformation paradigm. Participants studied a set of statements about a person, which were presented as either individual statements or pairs of causally linked statements. Participants were then provided with causally plausible and causally implausible misinformation. We hypothesised that studying information connected with causal links would promote representing information in a more abstract manner. As such, we predicted that causal information would not provide an overall protection against memory errors, but rather would preferentially help in the rejection of misinformation that was causally implausible, given the learned causal links. In two experiments, we measured whether the causal linkage of information would be generally protective against all memory errors or only selectively protective against certain types of memory errors. Causal links helped participants reject implausible memory lures, but did not protect against plausible lures. Our results suggest that causal information may promote an abstract storage of information that helps prevent only specific types of memory errors.

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