Jean-Marie Danion

Publications of Jean-Marie Danion

• Distorted perception of the subjective temporal distance of autobiographical events in patients with schizophrenia.

  Authors: Jevita Potheegadoo, Christine Cuervo-Lombard, Fabrice Berna, Jean-Marie Danion

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2012; 21(1):90-9.

  Disturbances of perception of subjective time have been described in schizophrenia but have not been experimentally studied until now. We investigated how patients with schizophrenia estimate theDisturbances of perception of subjective time have been described in schizophrenia but have not been experimentally studied until now. We investigated how patients with schizophrenia estimate the subjective temporal distance (TD) of past personal events, i.e. how these events are perceived as subjectively close or distant in time. Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia and 25 control participants recalled 24 autobiographical memories from four different life periods. They estimated the subjective TD and rated the amount of detail of each memory. Results showed that patients with schizophrenia had a distorted perception of subjective TD. Their memories were significantly less detailed than those of controls and, unlike control participants, the amount of memory detail was not significantly correlated with subjective TD. Poor access to memory detail may account for distortions of perception of subjective time in patients with schizophrenia.

• Self-images and related autobiographical memories in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Mehdi Bennouna-Greene, Fabrice Berna, Martin A Conway, Clare J Rathbone, Pierre Vidailhet, Jean-Marie Danion

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2012; 21(1):247-57.

  Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness, which affects sense of identity. While the ability to have a coherent vision of the self (i.e., self-images) relies partly on its reciprocal relationshipsSchizophrenia is a severe mental illness, which affects sense of identity. While the ability to have a coherent vision of the self (i.e., self-images) relies partly on its reciprocal relationships with autobiographical memories, little is known about how memories ground "self-images" in schizophrenia. Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia and 25 controls were asked to give six autobiographical memories related to four self-statements they considered essential for defining their identity. Results showed that patients' self-images were more passive than those of controls. Autobiographical memories underlying self-images were less thematically linked to these self-images in patients. We also found evidence of a weakened sense of self and a deficient organization of autobiographical memories grounding the self in schizophrenia. These abnormalities may account for the poor cohesiveness of the self in schizophrenia.

• Metamemory knowledge and beliefs in patients with schizophrenia and how these relate to objective cognitive abilities.

  Authors: Elisabeth Bacon, Nathalie Huet, Jean-Marie Danion

  Consciousness and cognition. 07/2011; 20(4):1315-26.

  Subjective reports and theories about memory may have an influence on other beliefs and behaviours. Patients with schizophrenia suffer a wide range of deficits affecting their awareness of dailySubjective reports and theories about memory may have an influence on other beliefs and behaviours. Patients with schizophrenia suffer a wide range of deficits affecting their awareness of daily life, including memory. With the Metamemory Inventory in Adulthood (MIA) we ascertained patients' memory knowledge and thoughts about their own cognitive capacities and about several aspects of cognitive functioning: personal capacities, knowledge of processes, use of strategies, perceived change with ageing, anxiety, motivation and mastery. The participants' ratings were correlated with their intellectual, cognitive and psychiatric data. Patients felt they had a lower capacity and marginally lower mastery over their memory than comparison subjects. They reported less recourse to strategies, and higher levels of memory-related anxiety. However, their knowledge of basic memory processes, motivation to succeed, and perception of ageing effects were similar. So patients with schizophrenia do not suffer a general and non specific impairment of their metacognitive knowledge.

• Self-defining memories related to illness and their integration into the self in patients with schizophrenia.

  Authors: Fabrice Berna, Mehdi Bennouna-Greene, Jevita Potheegadoo, Paulina Verry, Martin A Conway, Jean-Marie Danion

  Psychiatry research. 04/2011; 189(1):49-54.

  Although schizophrenia alters the sense of personal identity, little is known about the impact of illness-related autobiographical events on patients' self-representation. We investigatedAlthough schizophrenia alters the sense of personal identity, little is known about the impact of illness-related autobiographical events on patients' self-representation. We investigated self-defining memories (SDM) in 24 patients with schizophrenia and 24 controls to explore how illness-related SDM were integrated into the self at both the cognitive (how participants are able to give a meaning to past events: meaning making) and affective levels (how participants can re-experience past negative events as less negative: redemption and benefaction effects). We found that 26% of freely recalled SDM referred to their illness in patients. Further, while meaning making was impaired in patients for both illness-related and other SDM, illness-related SDM were characterized by a higher redemption and benefaction effects than other SDM. Our results highlight that despite a reduced ability to give a meaning to illness-related episodes, emotional processing seems to allow these events to become positively integrated into patients' life stories. This study provides new findings about the construction of the self in relation to psychotic episodes in patients with schizophrenia. We discuss clinical implications of our results that are helpful to guide cognitive interventions.

• Impaired ability to give a meaning to personally significant events in patients with schizophrenia.

  Authors: Fabrice Berna, Mehdi Bennouna-Greene, Jevita Potheegadoo, Paulina Verry, Martin A Conway, Jean-Marie Danion

  Consciousness and cognition. 04/2011; 20(3):703-11.

  Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness affecting sense of identity. Autobiographical memory deficits observed in schizophrenia could contribute to this altered sense of identity. The ability toSchizophrenia is a severe mental illness affecting sense of identity. Autobiographical memory deficits observed in schizophrenia could contribute to this altered sense of identity. The ability to give a meaning to personally significant events (meaning making) is also critical for identity construction and self-coherence. Twenty-four patients with schizophrenia and 24 control participants were asked to recall five self-defining memories. We assessed meaning making in participants' narratives (spontaneous meaning making) and afterwards asked them explicitly to give a meaning to their memories (cued meaning making). We found that both spontaneous and cued meaning making were impaired in patients with schizophrenia. This impairment was correlated with executive dysfunctions and level of negative symptoms. Our results suggest that patients' difficulties in drawing lessons about past experiences could contribute to explain the lack of coherence observed in their life trajectories and their impaired social adjustment abilities. Implications for psychotherapy are also discussed.

• The organization of autobiographical memory in patients with schizophrenia.

  Authors: Christine Morise, Fabrice Berna, Jean-Marie Danion

  Schizophrenia research. 03/2011; 128(1-3):156-60.

  Patients with schizophrenia exhibit a wide range of cognitive deficits, including autobiographical memory impairment. It has been suggested that there is a link between this impairment and aPatients with schizophrenia exhibit a wide range of cognitive deficits, including autobiographical memory impairment. It has been suggested that there is a link between this impairment and a disorganization of autobiographical knowledge. This study aimed to explore both the elementary and conceptual organization of autobiographical memory in schizophrenia. We used an event-cueing procedure to obtain and compare ten chains of six inter-related autobiographical memories of eighteen patients with schizophrenia and seventeen control participants. Elementary organization, which relies on memories' basic characteristics, including sensory-perceptive, cognitive, affective and temporal ones, was assessed by calculating the degree of similarity of the memories' characteristics within chains. Cluster-type connectivity, a form of conceptual organization reflecting the ability to organize autobiographical information about sets of causally and thematically related events, was assessed by asking the participants to describe the type of relationship between cued and cueing autobiographical memories. Whereas in controls elementary organization of memories relied on sensory-perceptive and cognitive characteristics of the memories, in patients it was mostly based on the memories' emotional content. Temporal organization and conceptual organization appeared to be preserved in patients. Patients fail to use sensory-perceptive and cognitive characteristics of memories to organize autobiographical knowledge. Possibly to compensate for this, they rely more on the memories' emotional characteristics. Our results point towards an imbalance between emotional and non-emotional factors underlying the organization of autobiographical memory in schizophrenia.

• Gray Matter Volume Decreases in Elderly Patients with Schizophrenia: A Voxel-based Morphometry Study.

  Authors: Caroline Schuster, Anne Marie Schuller, Carlos Paulos, Izzie Namer, Charles Pull, Jean Marie Danion, Jack René Foucher

  Schizophrenia bulletin. 01/2011;

  Background: Aged patients (>50 years old) with residual schizophrenic symptoms differ from young patients. They represent a subpopulation with a more unfavorable Kraepelinian course and have anBackground: Aged patients (>50 years old) with residual schizophrenic symptoms differ from young patients. They represent a subpopulation with a more unfavorable Kraepelinian course and have an increased risk (up to 30%) for dementia of unknown origin. However, our current understanding of age-related brain changes in schizophrenia is derived from studies that included less than 17% of patients who were older than 50 years of age. This study investigated the anatomical distribution of gray matter (GM) brain deficits in aged patients with ongoing schizophrenia. Methods: Voxel-based morphometry was applied to 3D-T1 magnetic resonance images obtained from 27 aged patients with schizophrenia (mean age of 60 years) and 40 age-matched normal controls. Results: Older patients with schizophrenia showed a bilateral reduction of GM volume in the thalamus, the prefrontal cortex, and in a large posterior region centered on the occipito-temporo-parietal junction. Only the latter region showed accelerated GM volume loss with increasing age. None of these results could be accounted for by institutionalization, antipsychotic medication, or cognitive scores. Conclusions: This study replicated most common findings in patients with schizophrenia with regard to thalamic and frontal GM deficits. However, it uncovered an unexpected large region of GM atrophy in the posterior tertiary cortices. The latter observation may be specific to this aged and chronically symptomatic subpopulation, as atrophy in this region is rarely reported in younger patients and is accelerated with age.

• True and false autobiographical memories in schizophrenia: preliminary results of a diary study.

  Authors: Elodie Pernot-Marino, Caroline Schuster, Guy Hedelin, Fabrice Berna, Marie-Agathe Zimmermann, Jean-Marie Danion

  Psychiatry research. 08/2010; 179(1):1-5.

  The frequency of true and false autobiographical memories and associated states of conscious awareness, i.e., conscious recollection and simply knowing, as well as the respective roles of affectiveThe frequency of true and false autobiographical memories and associated states of conscious awareness, i.e., conscious recollection and simply knowing, as well as the respective roles of affective and cognitive processes in autobiographical memory construction, were assessed in eight patients with schizophrenia and eight control participants. A diary study methodology was used in combination with the Remember/Know procedure. The results showed a higher frequency of Know responses associated with the retrieval of both true and false memories in patients than in control participants. Whereas control participants rated higher at retrieval than at encoding the distinctiveness and personal importance of events, as well as the extent to which events furthered current personal plans, patients exhibited an opposite pattern of ratings, with ratings being lower at retrieval than at encoding. These preliminary results show a high frequency of simply knowing associated with the retrieval of true and false autobiographical memories in patients with schizophrenia and provide evidence for the interest of the diary study methodology for studying autobiographical memory in schizophrenia.

• The right parahippocampal gyrus contributes to the formation and maintenance of bound information in working memory.

  Authors: David Luck, Jean-Marie Danion, Corrine Marrer, Bich-Tuy Pham, Daniel Gounot, Jack Foucher

  Brain and cognition. 10/2009;

  Working memory is devoted to the temporary storage and on-line manipulation of information. Recently, an integrative system termed the episodic buffer has been proposed to integrate and holdWorking memory is devoted to the temporary storage and on-line manipulation of information. Recently, an integrative system termed the episodic buffer has been proposed to integrate and hold information being entered or retrieved from episodic memory. Although the brain system supporting such an integrative buffer is still in debate, the medial temporal lobe appears to be a promising candidate for the maintenance of bound information. In the current work, binding was assessed by comparing two conditions in which participants had to retain three letters and three spatial locations presented either bound or separate. At the behavioral level, lower performance was found for bound information than for separate information. When contrasting the two conditions, activation in the right parahippocampal gyrus was greater for the encoding and maintenance of bound information. No activation was observed in the medial temporal lobe during the retrieval of bound information. Together, our results suggest that the parahippocampal gyrus may underlie the integrative and maintenance functions of the episodic buffer.

• Autonoetic awareness associated with the projection of the self into the future: An investigation in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Hercilia de Oliveira, Christine Cuervo-Lombard, Pierre Salamé, Jean-Marie Danion

  Psychiatry research. 09/2009; 169(1):86-7.

  Autonoetic awareness associated with the projection of the self into the future was assessed in patients with schizophrenia using an experiential approach. Patients anticipated fewer specific futureAutonoetic awareness associated with the projection of the self into the future was assessed in patients with schizophrenia using an experiential approach. Patients anticipated fewer specific future events than controls, and their ability to pre-experience future events was impaired, indicating that autonoetic awareness for the future is impaired in schizophrenia.

• Abnormal medial temporal activity for bound information during working memory maintenance in patients with schizophrenia.

  Authors: David Luck, Jean-Marie Danion, Corrine Marrer, Bich-Tuy Pham, Daniel Gounot, Jack Foucher

  Hippocampus. 09/2009;

  Alterations of binding in long-term memory in schizophrenia are well established and occur as a result of aberrant activity in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). In working memory (WM), such a deficitAlterations of binding in long-term memory in schizophrenia are well established and occur as a result of aberrant activity in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). In working memory (WM), such a deficit is less clear and the pathophysiological bases remain unstudied. Seventeen patients with schizophrenia and 17 matched healthy controls performed a WM binding task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Binding was assessed by contrasting two conditions comprising an equal amount of verbal and spatial information (i.e., three letters and three spatial locations), but differing in the absence or presence of a link between them. In healthy controls, MTL activation was observed for encoding and maintenance of bound information but not for its retrieval. Between-group comparisons revealed that patients with schizophrenia showed MTL hypoactivation during the maintenance phase only. In addition, BOLD signals correlated with behavioral performance in controls but not in patients with schizophrenia. Our results confirm the major role that the MTL plays in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Short-term and long-term relational memory deficits in schizophrenia may share common cognitive and functional pathological bases. Our results provide additional information about the episodic buffer that represents an integrative interface between WM and long-term memory. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

• Examining the effects of two factors on working memory maintenance of bound information in schizophrenia.

  Authors: David Luck, Lisa Buchy, Martin Lepage, Jean-Marie Danion

  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS. 08/2009; 15(4):597-605.

  Integrating information in space and time is a central feature of episodic memory. Although disturbance of the binding processes in episodic memory is well established in patients with schizophrenia,Integrating information in space and time is a central feature of episodic memory. Although disturbance of the binding processes in episodic memory is well established in patients with schizophrenia, data on working memory (WM) remain discrepant. In a change detection procedure, two target displays of pairs of letters located in cells of grid were successively presented. Participants attempted to detect changes in binding information (i.e., recombination of studied features) or feature information (i.e., a novel letter and/or a novel spatial location). Recombinations consisted of features belonging to the same display (intradisplay) or different displays (interdisplays). Results showed that patients demonstrated overall lower performance, with no specific deficit for recognizing bound information or feature information. In addition, patients did not demonstrate deficits for interdisplay recombinations or intradisplay recombinations. Patients' ability to remember temporal occurrence of stimuli was not affected. Together, these results suggest that in patients with schizophrenia, binding processes in WM are not specifically disturbed. (JINS, 2009, 15, 597-605.).

• Assessment of single and bound features in a working memory task in schizophrenia.

  Authors: David Luck, Jack R Foucher, Isabelle Offerlin-Meyer, Martin Lepage, Jean-Marie Danion

  Schizophrenia research. 04/2008; 100(1-3):153-60.

  If disturbance of binding in long term memory is well established in schizophrenia, data concerning working memory maintenance are less clear. Feature binding in working memory was investigated in 19If disturbance of binding in long term memory is well established in schizophrenia, data concerning working memory maintenance are less clear. Feature binding in working memory was investigated in 19 patients with schizophrenia and 19 healthy controls. Binding was assessed by comparing two conditions in which participants had to retain four letters and four spatial locations. These features were presented either bound or separate. Results showed that both groups had better performances for bound than separate features, despite the fact that patients performed significantly worse than controls. When maintenance for isolated features was assessed, patients were severely disturbed for spatial locations but not for letters. Such a result suggests that reduced working memory performance in patients with schizophrenia for bound features is probably a consequence of a spatial deficit rather than a specific deficit of the binding process. Thus, not all form of binding are disturbed in schizophrenia.

• The dynamic network subserving the three phases of cognitive procedural learning.

  Authors: Valérie Hubert, Hélène Beaunieux, Gaël Chételat, Hervé Platel, Brigitte Landeau, Jean-Marie Danion, Fausto Viader, Béatrice Desgranges

  Human brain mapping. 01/2008; 28(12):1415-29.

  Cognitive procedural learning is characterized by three phases (cognitive, associative, and autonomous), each involving distinct processes. We performed a behavioral study and a positron emissionCognitive procedural learning is characterized by three phases (cognitive, associative, and autonomous), each involving distinct processes. We performed a behavioral study and a positron emission tomography (PET) activation study using the Tower of Toronto task. The aim of the behavioral study was to determine cognitive predictors for the length of each of the three learning phases, in order to preselect subjects for the PET study. The objective of the second study was to describe the cerebral substrates subtending these three phases. Contrasted with a reference (motor) task, the cognitive phase activated the prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and parietal regions, all of which became less active as learning progressed. The associative phase was characterized by the activation of the occipital regions, right thalamus, and caudate nucleus. During the autonomous phase, new regions were involved, including the left thalamus and an anterior part of the cerebellum. These results, by employing a direct comparison between phases, provide the first evidence of the involvement and the time course of activation of different regions in each learning phase, in accordance with current models of cognitive procedural learning. The involvement of a frontoparietal network suggests the use of strategies in problem solving during the cognitive phase. The involvement of the occipital regions during the associative and autonomous phase suggests the intervention of mental imagery. Lastly, the activation of the cerebellum during the autonomous phase is consistent with the fact that performance in this phase is determined by psychomotor abilities.

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• Functional mechanisms of episodic memory impairment in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Jean-Marie Danion, Caroline Huron, Pierre Vidailhet, Fabrice Berna

  Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie. 12/2007; 52(11):693-701.

  OBJECTIVE: To achieve a better understanding of the functional mechanisms underlying episodic memory dysfunction in schizophrenia, which is a prerequisite for unravelling schizophrenia's neuralOBJECTIVE: To achieve a better understanding of the functional mechanisms underlying episodic memory dysfunction in schizophrenia, which is a prerequisite for unravelling schizophrenia's neural correlates in neuroimaging studies and, more generally, for developing an integrated approach to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. It is also crucial for developing cognitive remediation. METHOD: This paper reviews empirical evidence of episodic memory dysfunction in schizophrenia obtained with reference to various theoretical models of episodic memory. RESULTS: All the studies converge to show a significant impairment of the critical feature of episodic memory: conscious recollection. Schizophrenia is also associated with a defect of autobiographical memory. The episodic memory dysfunction results from a predominant failure of strategic processing at encoding, although an impairment of strategic processing at retrieval cannot be ruled out. The possibility that it is not the execution of the encoding strategies that is defective but, rather, their self-initiation by the patients is plausible. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may explain some behavioural abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, notably, inadequate functional outcomes in everyday life. They may also have implications for cognitive remediation and better social and work functioning of patients with schizophrenia.

• Temporal context memory in high-functioning autism.

  Authors: Agnès Gras-Vincendon, Laurent Mottron, Pierre Salamé, Claude Bursztejn, Jean-Marie Danion

  Autism : the international journal of research and practice. 12/2007; 11(6):523-34.

  Episodic memory, i.e. memory for specific episodes situated in space and time, seems impaired in individuals with autism. According to weak central coherence theory, individuals with autism haveEpisodic memory, i.e. memory for specific episodes situated in space and time, seems impaired in individuals with autism. According to weak central coherence theory, individuals with autism have general difficulty connecting contextual and item information which then impairs their capacity to memorize information in context. This study investigated temporal context memory for visual information in individuals with autism. Eighteen adolescents and adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS) and age- and IQ-matched typically developing participants were tested using a recency judgement task. The performance of the autistic group did not differ from that of the control group, nor did the performance between the AS and HFA groups. We conclude that autism in high-functioning individuals does not impair temporal context memory as assessed on this task. We suggest that individuals with autism are as efficient on this task as typically developing subjects because contextual memory performance here involves more automatic than organizational processing.

• Impairment of autonoetic awareness for emotional events in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Aurore Neumann, Pierre Philippot, Jean-Marie Danion

  Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie. 08/2007; 52(7):450-6.

  OBJECTIVE: To investigate the subjective states of awareness accompanying recognition of emotional events in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: During the learning phase, a set of neutral picturesOBJECTIVE: To investigate the subjective states of awareness accompanying recognition of emotional events in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: During the learning phase, a set of neutral pictures associated with emotional sentences was presented to 24 patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy control subjects. During the test phase, participants had to recognize target pictures and valence and to report their subjective state of awareness (Remember, Know, or Guess) associated with recognition of pictures and valence. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia exhibited poor recognition of pictures and emotional valence. The frequency of Remember responses associated with recognition of pictures and of valence was lower in patients than in control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Autonoetic awareness for emotional events is reduced in schizophrenia, with patients presenting difficulties in consciously recollecting the specific details that make events emotional.

• Inhibition of inappropriate responses is preserved in the Think-No-Think and impaired in the random number generation tasks in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Pierre Salamé, Jean-Marie Danion

  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS. 04/2007; 13(2):277-87.

  We examined the ability of 23 schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy controls to exert intentional inhibition of prepotent responses in the Think-No-Think (TNT) paired-associate learning paradigmWe examined the ability of 23 schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy controls to exert intentional inhibition of prepotent responses in the Think-No-Think (TNT) paired-associate learning paradigm (Anderson & Green, 2001). TNT manipulates the frequency (1, 8, 16 times) of intentional attempts to suppress (inhibit) some target words and to respond to most cue words. Following a TNT practice-phase, recall of suppressed words was tested in two ways, using the same cue words initially learned, and the category name plus letter-stem of the target words. Inhibition of prepotent responses was also examined in a random number generation (RNG) task. In TNT, speed results showed longer reaction times after 16 suppress attempts in patients, not in controls, reflecting increased difficulty with retrieving the memory traces of the overridden items. In accuracy, no between-groups differences were evidenced, and overall patterns replicated those of Anderson & Green. In RNG, patients produced more stereotyped responses and ascending and descending counting than controls, pointing to on-line failures to inhibit prepotent responses. These findings suggest that schizophrenia patients' difficulties to inhibit prepotent responses appear specific, not widespread, the intentional inhibition addressed in TNT being preserved, and on-line inhibition in RNG being impaired.

• Autobiographical memory of adolescence and early adulthood events: an investigation in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Christine Cuervo-Lombard, Nicolas Jovenin, Guy Hedelin, Lydia Rizzo-Peter, Martin A Conway, Jean-Marie Danion

  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS. 04/2007; 13(2):335-43.

  The reminiscence bump corresponds to a marked increase in autobiographical memories of events that occurred when normal people were aged 10 to 30 years, a critical period for the formation ofThe reminiscence bump corresponds to a marked increase in autobiographical memories of events that occurred when normal people were aged 10 to 30 years, a critical period for the formation of identity. The reminiscence bump was studied in 27 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 27 control participants. They were asked to recall 20 specific autobiographical events that had occurred during their lifetime and to indicate the subjective states of awareness associated with the recalled memories using the Remember/Know procedure. Finally, participants were asked to state whether recalled memories related to private or public events. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia recalled less specific memories than controls and exhibited an earlier reminiscence bump. They recalled more public, and less private events than controls, and they gave fewer Remember responses. The reminiscence bump peaked in the 16 to 25-year period for patients and the 21 to 25-year period for controls. These findings indicate that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia exhibit an early and abnormal reminiscence bump, with an impairment of conscious recollection associated with memories highly relevant to personal identity. They suggest that schizophrenia is associated with an impairment of autobiographical memories of events that had occurred during the last stage of personal identity development.

• Preserved memory monitoring but impaired memory control during episodic encoding in patients with schizophrenia.

  Authors: Elisabeth Bacon, Marie Izaute, Jean-Marie Danion

  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS. 04/2007; 13(2):219-27.

  Metamemory awareness refers to the ability to monitor and control how well information is processed depending on the loads and needs of the task at hand. There is some evidence that metamemoryMetamemory awareness refers to the ability to monitor and control how well information is processed depending on the loads and needs of the task at hand. There is some evidence that metamemory functions are impaired in schizophrenia at the time of memory retrieval. This study investigated whether patients with schizophrenia exhibit metamemory abnormalities during the encoding of new information. The frequency of item presentation was varied. Both memory control and memory monitoring were assessed using study-time allocation and Judgments of Learning (JOL), respectively. Repeated items were recalled better by both groups, but memory performance was lower in patients than controls. Patients' behavior patterns were abnormal in terms of the study-time allocated for each item according to presentation frequency. Patients' JOLs were lower than those of controls but remained sensitive to item repetition. Patients' predictive values on memory accuracy were no different to those measured in controls. In addition, none of the patients reported using efficient strategies to help memorize target items. The results show a dissociation between memory control, which was impaired, and memory monitoring, which was spared, in patients with schizophrenia during encoding of new information.