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Effects of Medial Temporal Lobe Damage on Autobiographical Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Using the Autobiographical Interview

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Krista Mitchnick¹ (kmitchnick@research.baycrest.org), Jennifer Zhavoronkova², Mona Eskandaripour³, Stephanie Simpson⁴, Brian Levine¹; ¹Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, ²University of Ottawa, ³University of Toronto, ⁴Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

The hippocampus and surrounding extended medial temporal lobe (MTL) have been widely implicated in declarative memory, including autobiographical memory. Declarative memory distinguishes between two forms of content – episodic (contextually rich) and semantic (factual) – where MTL damage often disrupts episodic content. The majority of these studies have employed laboratory experiments or standardized neuropsychological measures, but there is a growing appreciation for the assessment of naturalistic, real-life autobiographical memories, given their ecological validity. Here, we have conducted a meta-analytic review to evaluate the effects of MTL/extended MTL damage on naturalistic autobiographical memory assessed by the Autobiographical Interview, a widely used, standardized assessment that derives measures of internal (episodic) and external (non-episodic/semantic) details from freely recalled autobiographical memories. Given the large number of single-case studies, we have conducted separate group and case study meta-analyses. Preliminary group analyses demonstrate that individuals with MTL damage recall a significantly reduced number of internal details, compared to healthy matched controls, with no significant differences in external detail production. Case study analyses are on-going. These results suggest that in the presence of various degrees and sites of MTL damage/dysfunction, autobiographical memory recall is predominated by semantic details amongst a paucity of rich contextualized details, demonstrating that the MTL system is necessary for the episodic nature of real-life autobiographical memory. These findings help to inform memory evaluation and prognosis in these individuals and certain clinical populations (e.g., MTL epilepsy/surgery), and demonstrates the Autobiographical Interview as a robust and informative tool in the assessment of naturalistic autobiographical memory.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic