Confabulation and mood: a programme of studies

The cognitive mechanisms which underlie the formation of confabulations<br/>remain a matter of debate. In the present programme of studies predictors of<br/>the presence and clinical course of confabulations, and affective biases in the<br/>content of confabulations, were examined.<br/>24 confabulating brain injured amnesic patients, 11 non-confabulating brain<br/>injured amnesic controls and 6 healthy participants were assessed on<br/>confabulation, temporal context confusion (TCC), insight and mood measures.<br/>Confabulating participants were followed up for 9 months.<br/>In partial replication of previous findings (Schnider, 2008), TCC scores were<br/>raised in confabulating patients compared with healthy individuals. However,<br/>TCC was not good at discriminating between confabulating and other brain<br/>injured patients. Current results are consistent with the argument that TCC may<br/>be sensitive, but not specific to confabulation (Gilboa, 2010).<br/>A combination of poor insight and somewhat elated mood state predicted the<br/>presence of confabulations in the current sample sensitively and specifically.<br/>Initial elated mood score also predicted the clinical course of episodic<br/>confabulation. The present results indicated that elated mood and level of<br/>awareness into difficulties and well-being may influence ‘core’ mechanisms<br/>underlying confabulation (Gilboa, 2010).<br/>4<br/>True and false memories reported by patients were rated for affective content.<br/>Although many of them were evaluated as ‘neutral’, more confabulatory<br/>memories were labeled as either pleasant or unpleasant, than ‘true’ memories.<br/>Location of lesion in terms of whether focal ventro-medial frontal pathology was<br/>present or absent, had no effect on this affective bias. The affective state may<br/>contribute importantly to confabulation formation (Fotopoulou, 2010; Metcalf et<br/>al., 2010).

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral Thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

King's College London

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Bajo, Ana

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kopelman, Michael David

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/8b8fcb62-93a5-40da-a70b-13ceb179714d

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/8b8fcb62-93a5-40da-a70b-13ceb179714d