Autobiographical Memory Disturbances in Schizophrenia and the Psychosis Continuum: Integrating New Insights

Most studies on autobiographical memory in the psychosis continuum have focused exclusively on the voluntary (strategic) retrieval of past events. Findings have identified significant memory deficits in terms of impaired retrieval, reduced recollective qualities, and disturbed life-story narration, contributing to an impoverished sense of self. However, these findings diverge with more recent research that has revealed a strikingly different pattern of memory recall compared with the earlier literature. In contrast to a uniform impairment, certain features of autobiographical memory, specifically the prevalence of involuntary (spontaneously arising) autobiographical memories, is enhanced across the psychosis continuum from subclinical to clinical levels in schizophrenia. Findings have also shown that the recollective characteristics of autobiographical memories are either enhanced or impaired depending on the predominance of clinical symptoms—such as the predominance of positive or negative symptoms. We propose that these seemingly contradictory patterns of findings can be resolved by considering that the effects of psychosis vary (a) across different components of autobiographical memory and (b) as a function of variations in salient clinical symptoms. These insights are important for attaining a deeper understanding of psychosis and schizophrenia and for developing new forms of treatment that target specific impairments in different symptom profiles.