Memory psychopathologies: characteristics, types and symptoms.

A summary classification of memory psychopathologies, differentiated and described.

The human being is made up of memories. What we are is nothing more than what we are capable of remembering and integrating, the experiences that were lived in the past and defined us. That is why memory is such an important and valuable cognitive function.

Some life circumstances, from the unstoppable passage of time to the onset of diseases or the occurrence of accidents of various kinds, can compromise the way in which it is expressed temporarily or permanently.

In this article we will address the phenomenon of memory psychopathologies, i.e., the ways in which memory is expressed temporarily or permanently.that is, the ways in which memory can be altered (both in its capacity to retrieve pieces of information and in any other of its properties).

We will also reserve a space for other mnesic phenomena that may occur in the general population, and that do not suggest any underlying disorder.

Memory psychopathologies

There are many diseases and situations that can condition the functioning of memory, since it is a dimension that is widely distributed in the human brain. a dimension widely distributed in the brain parenchyma.. In this article, we will delve into the various forms of amnesia and anomalies of memory or recognition, i.e. memory psychopathologies.

1. Amnesias

The term "amnesia", of Greek origin (and which could be translated as "forgetfulness"), subsumes a large group of alterations of memory. a large group of memory disorders, heterogeneous in terms of origin, prognosis and clinical expression.. Each of them will be discussed in more detail below.

1.1. Retrograde amnesia

Retrograde amnesia is perhaps the best known memory problem. It is described as a specific difficulty in recalling past events, while the ability to create new memories remains unchanged..

It mainly affects episodic information, i.e., events that have been experienced (while maintaining semantic, procedural, etc.). It is usually one of the multiple consequences of brain trauma or dementia diseases affecting large regions of the nervous system.

1.2. Anterograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia is a memory impairment that is characterized by the difficulty or impossibility of generating new memories from a specific moment in time.. Thus, what is altered is consolidation, or the process that transfers information from the short-term store to the long-term store (where it remains fixed for a longer period of time). The memory of the past remains intact.

Brain lesions in the hippocampal structures have been consistently associated with this type of problem, as well as drug or medication abuse (alcohol, benzodiazepines, etc.).

1.3. Transient global amnesia

These are acute episodes in which the person suffering from this problem expresses difficulty in remembering events beyond the last ones that occurred in his or her life.Although perception, attention and other cognitive processes are maintained at their basal level of functioning.

Access to more distant memories is usually also affected; but not name, identity, origin or other basic and consolidated information in deep layers of self-definition (as well as the ability to carry out actions over which he/she had mastery).

The person may be emotionally affected, as he/she is aware of the deficit that grips him/her. Particularly suggestive of this problem is the perseveration in the actions and questions asked of those around, as the answer is almost immediately forgotten. The episode usually resolves within a few hours (less than 24 hours), and the underlying cause remains largely unknown.

Lacunar amnesia

Lacunar amnesia describes the impossibility of accessing information about specific events or periods of timewith very specific time coordinates. The person may remember everything that happened both before and after the event, but never what happened during the event. It is related to punctual laxity of the level of attention or altered states of consciousness (such as coma), but it is also common in stroke and trauma.

1.5. Post-traumatic amnesia

Post-traumatic amnesia has an obvious etiology: a blow to the head. Although it can manifest itself in different ways, and have a clinical presentation similar to that described in the anterograde/retrograde, it has the particularity of being a reliable indicator of the severity of the trauma suffered.. In mild cases it may last only a few minutes, while in severe cases (more than a day) it may become permanent.

1.6. Functional amnesia

Functional amnesia describes any memory impairment for which no organic cause can be traced after the trauma. no organic cause can be traced after all kinds of explorations, including tests of the brain.including neuroimaging tests. On the other hand, a thorough assessment of the circumstances in which it develops does allow it to be associated with events of high emotional charge, which would stand as its most probable cause. One of the most common cases is that of post-traumatic stress disorder, although it can also be observed in dissociative disorders (from fugue to dissociative identity).

1.7. Infantile amnesia

Infantile amnesia is the natural occurrence of amnesia during childhood, as a result of incomplete neurological development. The phenomenon involves the deficient maturation of the hippocampus, which prevents the formation of memories.which prevents the formation of declarative memories.

Despite this circumstance, the early development of the amygdala does facilitate the articulation of an emotional imprint for these events, even though during adulthood they cannot be described using exact words. It is for this reason that, although we cannot remember what happened during the early years, it can affect us on an emotional level.

2. Abnormalities of memory

Abnormalities of memory are common in the general population, although some of them manifest themselves preferentially under the influence of the consumption of certain substances or of a pathology of the central nervous system. In the following lines we will explore what they are and what they may be due to.

2.1. Incomplete personal memory

This phenomenon occurs when we meet a person with whom we have already met in the past, and although we are aware of this nuance, we cannot identify what we know about that person, we cannot identify where we know the person from (or from where). In this case a memory is produced, although attenuated and incomplete, since part of the information is not available. This is a common experience that is associated with the absence of contextual clues that facilitate the process, i.e. the fact of finding the person in an unfamiliar space (different from the one in which we usually locate him/her).

2.2. Sensation of knowing

This is a feeling (bordering on certainty) that we have knowledge about a particular event, or about a term, although we ultimately fail to demonstrate it.or about a term, although in the end we fail to demonstrate it. It happens especially with words or concepts that, although they are familiar when we read or hear about them, we cannot evoke their exact meaning. This results in imprecise recognition, motivated by the morphological kinship of two terms: one that is really known and another that is thought to be known.

Tip of the tongue

The tip of the tongue phenomenon (also known as Top of Tongue or simply TOT) describes the very uncomfortable sensation that arises when we find ourselves unable to pronounce a word. when we find ourselves unable to pronounce a particular word, despite knowing it and wanting to use it in the context of a conversation.. This phenomenon is more frequent in terms of rare use, although it also occurs in more everyday use, and tends to be exacerbated under conditions of fatigue or stress. It may also become more common as the years go by.

Often the person comes to remember some of the properties of the word he or she intends to use, such as the beginning or the end, and tries to carry out a subvocalization for the purpose of "hitting on it." Paradoxically, this effort often inhibits the irruption of such a longed-for word, since it is a reality that is very often revealed only when we stop thinking about it.

2.4. Temporal gap

Temporal gaps are moments in life in which, due to a relevant absence of attention, we have not been able to elaborate an evocable memory of what happened. It can happen while performing an activity automated by habit. (driving, cooking, etc.), so that its development would take place while we are thinking about other things, and we do not get to form memories about what happened "in the meantime". This is a kind of self-absorption or even distractibility, in which the awareness of time is lost.

2.5. Task verification

Some tasks are carried out in such a routine manner that, despite having paid attention while doing them, it may be difficult to discern whether they were actually carried out or not. This is because their repetition exerts an interfering effect, and the person manifests difficulty in identify whether the memory in his "head" corresponds to this last occasion or whether it is in fact the trace of a previous day..... The "problem" leads to constant checking of the action (closing a door, turning off the stove, etc.).

2.6. Pseudomemory

Pseudomemory is a generic category that includes all those processes in which a false or completely inaccurate memory is evoked. The most frequent of these is confabulation, which consists of the "fabrication" of false memories in order to fill in the false memory.which consists of the "fabrication" of false memories to fill in the blanks of those who (for various reasons) cannot evoke the totality of some lived episode. The purpose here is, therefore, to give meaning to an experience that lacks meaning because of its incompleteness, like a puzzle that lacks key pieces to solve it.

Another example is fantastic pseudology. In this case, false memories are deliberately created, but cannot be explained cannot be explained by mnesic gaps, but rather by an unresolved affective need.. The aim would be to generate "events" coherent with the desire to feel one way or another, which would tend to accentuate their intensity if the interlocutor showed interest in them (to the point of becoming totally impossible and truly fantastic acts).

Finally, many authors include in this category the delusional memoriesthrough which the person forms reminiscences of a past that never took place. However, such a construction makes sense because it links the experience of the present (distorted by the delusion) with the past, thus tracing a timeline congruent with the content of current thoughts and perceptions.

3. Anomalies of recognition

Recognition anomalies are errors in the way a memory or a stimulus located in the present is processed, which could be summarized as false positive recognitions (the sensation of "remembering" an event that is being experienced for the first time) or false negative recognitions (the perception that something previously experienced appears before our eyes as totally new).

3.1. Déjà vu

Deja vu is a well-known sensation, since practically all of us have experienced it at some time. It is the perception that a really new situation is burnished with a great familiarity, as if it were not the first time.as if it were not the first time we had experienced it. In colloquial language, it tends to be expressed as "this sounds familiar" or "I've been here". Over the years, numerous hypotheses have been postulated to explain it, from spiritual to properly scientific, although the reason why it occurs is still unclear.

In recent times its concurrence together with psychiatric disorders, mainly depersonalization, as well as in theIn recent times, its concurrence with psychiatric disorders, mainly depersonalization, as well as in the context of epilepsies or lesions of the temporal cortex, has been emphasized. In the case of people without pathology, it is much shorter and less intense.

Finally, there are many people who believe in the possibility that the experience of déjà vu would allow them to predict particular events that could take place while it is unfolding, a distorted belief that has been coined under the epigraph of "pseudo-presentiment".

3.2. Jamais vu

The jamais vu is the mirror of the dejà vu, so that they could be understood as opposites. In the case at hand, the person is confronted with a situation that he or she has already experienced at least once, but does not perceive familiarity at all. Thus, although he is aware of a previous identical or very similar experience, he evaluates the event as if it were completely new. It is less common than dejà vu, and may occur to people who are sensitive to slight spatial modifications that take place in familiar environments (fading as fast as it takes to identify the change).

3.3. Cryptomnesia

Cryptomnesia consists in the firm belief that a memory is not a memory, but an original production. In this way, one runs the risk of adopting as one's own one runs the risk of adopting other people's ideas or reflections as one's own.The access to the memory lacks familiarity and/or recognition. It is common in scientific and artistic fields, and has led over the years to countless lawsuits for plagiarism or misuse of intellectual property.