Long-term memory
How does memory loss affect our sense of being the same person?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Individuals with Alzheimer's disease maintain a strong belief that they are the same person over time, even though they struggle to explain why and tell less coherent life stories.
Key findings
Roughly 50% of the individuals in the Alzheimer's group offered explanations for self-persistence that relied entirely on surface features while ignoring personal changes, compared to only 16% of the healthy controls. Despite these weaker explanations and lower narrative coherence overall, the Alzheimer's group maintained a strong subjective belief that their core identity remained unchanged since youth. Additionally, individuals with mild cognitive impairment showed a distinct drop specifically in the causal coherence of their stories.
Methodology
The researchers recruited 25 healthy older adults, 15 individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and 15 individuals with Alzheimer's disease. To capture their life stories, the researchers had participants speak for 10 minutes per life chapter, subsequently analyzing the transcriptions for narrative structure, coherence, and personal connections.
Limitations
The study cannot establish a causal link between narrative decline and changes in self-perception due to its correlational and cross-sectional design. The small group sizes limit the generalizability of the findings to the broader population of individuals with cognitive decline. Furthermore, the clinical assessments relied heavily on participants' verbal abilities, meaning the results might not capture the true internal experiences of patients who struggle with language expression or have limited insight into their condition.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Not yet placed on a claim. This paper has study layers, but no concept page yet cites it as support, challenge, or qualifier.
Related papers in this topic
Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.