Episodic Memory and Awareness of Memory Damaged by Alcohol Dependence

Not only were alcohol-dependent patients relatively unaware of their memory deficits, but that they also overestimated their memory capacities, a new study has found
lcohol dependence (AD) has negative effects on cognitive processes such as memory. Metamemory refers to the subjective knowledge that people have of their own cognitive processing abilities, such as their monitoring and control of memory. A new study has found that AD has a negative impact on both episodic memory as well as metamemory.

Results will be published in the November 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Memory refers to the faculty to encode, store and retrieve information," explained Anne-Pascale Le Berre, "which is not a single memory but several memory systems." Le Berre is a doctoral student in neuropsychology at Inserm-EPHE at the Université de Caen/Basse-Normandie in France as well as corresponding author for the study. "In this study, we investigated episodic memory, which is the memory system in charge of the encoding, storage and retrieval of personally experienced events and which is known to be impaired in chronic alcoholism."

Le Berre and her colleagues also tested metamemory in AD patients. "Metamemorial knowledge enables us to adapt our behavior in everyday life and to use our memory skills as efficiently as possible," said Le Berre. "Metamemory can refer to the knowledge someone has about memory processing in general, and their own memory functioning in particular," she said. "For example, if someone often forgets to buy things in the supermarket, he or she can write down a shopping list. This knowledge enables people to anticipate and implement appropriate strategies when performing a memory task. Metamemory can also refer to activity during a memory task. For example, a student first studies for an exam, and then evaluates his or her level of knowledge. If confident, he or she can stop studying, but if not, they can study more or adjust their learning strategy."