Attenuated boundary extension produces a paradoxical memory advantage in amnesic patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

When we view a scene, we construct an internal representation of the scene that extends beyond its given borders. This cognitive phenomenon is revealed by a subsequent memory error when we confidently misremember the extended scene instead of the original. This effect is known as "boundary extension" and is apparent in adults, children, and babies.

Results

Here we show that seven patients with selective bilateral hippocampal damage and amnesia, who cannot imagine spatially coherent scenes, displayed attenuated levels of boundary extension on three separate measures. Paradoxically, this reduced boundary extension resulted in better memory for the stimuli compared with matched control participants, because the patients' recall was less encumbered by the boundary ext

SUBMITTER: Mullally SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3315012 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature