Remote memory for items, contents, and contexts: A case study for post-traumatic amnesia

We examined remote memory in a patient with posttraumatic amnesia. In speci al assessment for public events, the patient showed preserved verbal recogn ition of items and contents of past events, and impaired verbal recall of c ontents of events. This pattern was not observed in autobiographical memory , in which his performance was perfect. In time estimation of past events, the patient showed a temporally graded impairment for public events in both conditions of allocentric and egocentric temporal judgment, but for autobi ographical memory in only the former condition. These two patterns of disso ciation suggest that the impairment in recall of public events may be relat ed to disturbed retrieval strategy using the allocentric temporal context i nformation about past public events. (C) 2000 Academic Press.