Implausible future events in a confabulating patient with an anterior communicating artery aneurysm

Cole, Scott N.; Fotopoulou, Aikaterini; Oddy, Michael; Moulin, Chris J. A.

doi:10.1080/13554794.2012.741259

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…HCM is a patient not only stranded in the past but also in the future, without a record of the recent past he cannot imagine future events that are plausible and linked to his current situation -linked to 'now' (see Cole, Fotopoulou, Oddy, & Moulin, 2014, for further discussion of memory plausibility, Stroumsa, submitted for publication, for an interesting and related cultural discussion, and Young, submitted for publication, for a related discussion of 'absence'). We have noted previously the constraining effect of memories generally on the self, e.g.…”

Section: The Problem Of the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

The remembering–imagining system

2016

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. concluded, based on their own review of cognitive and neuroimaging studies of true versus false memories, that "it might be virtually impossible to tell reliably if a particular memory is true or false without independent corroboration (p.373)". On the basis of this evidence it was suggested (Conway, 2009) that perhaps we should be using the term remembering-imaging system (RIS) rather than simply memory system. Permanent repository link:The RIS is considered further below but first I will consider some aspects of the future. The Problem Of the FutureIn classical physics/mechanics a system, a collection of objects e.g. particles, fields, waves, etc. is deterministic and reversible (Susskind & Hrabovshy, 2013). This 4 means that given the laws that govern the system and its changes are known, a future state can be predicted exactly. Similarly knowing the state of a system at any given time means that the state of the system at an earlier or later time can be precisely established. Supposing we knew the laws that governed the cognitive, mind/brain, system, could we then, for any given individual, predict the exact state of the system at a future point? I suggest that we could not, (see Dudai & Edelson, submitted for publication, for related arguments). Just as in certain areas of physics, e.g. quantum mechanics, it is not possible to precisely predict a future state of a system, so with people the future is only probable. However, once a future state has come into being it may be possible to work back to previous states. Thus, the cognitive system may be retrospectively reversible (a point interestingly made by Freud, 1920, in the case of psychological states, which given the initial conditions cannot be predicted but working back to initial conditions is at least partly possible). Nevertheless, retrospectively reversible or not, given that there are an infinite number of indeterminate possible futures, this poses a major adaptive problem for goal-driven organisms. This is particularly so as the end point of all unrealized goals lies somewhere in the future. Indeed, in order to have a goal a future state has to be anticipated and often consciously imagined (Cole & Berntsen, 2015). To what extent does the idealized representation of the RIS shown in Figure 1 accurately reflect our memory for the recent past and imaginations of the near future?In a recent study we (Loveday & Conway, 2015) had people list all the personal events they could remember for each of the past 5 days and all the personal events that they the imagined could plausibly occur on each of the next 5 days. The numbers of remembered and imagined future events for each are shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 about hereIt can be seen in Figure 2 that the number of recent memories that can be accessed decreases rapidly over the first 3 days but then seems to stabilize and even increase slightly at a retention interval of 5 days. Also, intere...

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Section: The Problem Of the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

The remembering–imagining system

2016

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“…In a study of individuals with Parkinsons disease, patients produced future events with reduced episodic detail, especially when novel event constructions were required (de Vito et al, 2012). In cases with extensive PFC damage, the monitoring component of episodic future thinking becomes more transparent, as patients misperceive extremely implausible future events as personally plausible (patient MW, Cole et al, 2014). Currently, the limited amount of extant cognitive and neuropsychological research limits an accurate view on the role of executive function in episodic future thinking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cole et al, 2014;Dalla Barba et al, 1997): Confabulation-like behaviour that, at some point in HCM's past, would have been relevant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a similar vein, in 5-10 years he envisioned 'passing' a variety of clinical examinations and moving into his apartment. Both of these events would be unlikely to occur to HCM (i.e., they would be personally implausible, see Cole et al, 2014), according to clinicians and his son, suggesting that his future thoughts were outdated.…”

Section: Mental Time Travel Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One key difference however is that episodic recollection can be verified whereas episodic future thoughts vary on the degree to which the simulation maps onto one's expected future. Here, we define episodic future thinking as the construction of a personally plausible future event (see Cole, Fotopoulou, Oddy & Moulin, 2014) following common definitions employed in experimental work (Addis, Wong & Schacter, 2007;D'Argembeau & Van der Linden, 2004).…”

Section: Quality Of Episodic Future Thoughtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Amnesia and future thinking: Exploring the role of memory in the quantity and quality of episodic future thoughts

Cole

Morrison

Barak³

et al. 2015

British J Clinic Psychol

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ObjectivesTo examine the impact of memory accessibility on episodic future thinking.DesignSingle‐case study of neurological patient HCM and an age‐matched comparison group of neurologically Healthy Controls.MethodsWe administered a full battery of tests assessing general intelligence, memory, and executive functioning. To assess autobiographical memory, the Autobiographical Memory Interview (Kopelman, Wilson, & Baddeley, 1990. The Autobiographical Memory Interview. Bury St. Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company) was administered. The Past Episodic and Future Episodic sections of Dalla Barba's Confabulation Battery (Dalla Barba, 1993, Cogn. Neuropsychol., 1, 1) and a specifically tailored Mental Time Travel Questionnaire were administered to assess future thinking in HCM and age‐matched controls.ResultsHCM presented with a deficit in forming new memories (anterograde amnesia) and recalling events from before the onset of neurological impairment (retrograde amnesia). HCM's autobiographical memory impairments are characterized by a paucity of memories from Recent Life. In comparison with controls, two features of his future thoughts are apparent: Reduced episodic future thinking and outdated content of his episodic future thoughts.ConclusionsThis article suggests neuropsychologists should look beyond popular conceptualizations of the past–future relation in amnesia via focussing on reduced future thinking. Investigating both the quantity and quality of future thoughts produced by amnesic patients may lead to developments in understanding the complex nature of future thinking disorders resulting from memory impairments.Practitioner points We highlight the clinical importance of examining the content of future thoughts in amnesic patients, rather than only its quantitative reduction. We propose an explanation of how quantitative and qualitative aspects of future thinking could be affected by amnesia. This could provide a useful approach to understand clinical cases of impaired prospection. Limitations Systematic group investigations are required to fully examine our hypothesis. Although the current study utilized typical future thinking measures, these may be limited and we highlight the need to develop clinically relevant measures of prospection.

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Language and Neurology

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Implausible future events in a confabulating patient with an anterior communicating artery aneurysm

Cited by 7 publications

References 72 publications

The remembering–imagining system

The remembering–imagining system

Amnesia and future thinking: Exploring the role of memory in the quantity and quality of episodic future thoughts

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