Visual imagery: the past and future as seen by patients with Alzheimer’s disease

Mohamad El Haj (1) , Ahmed Moustafa (2) , Karim Gallouj (3) , Frédérique Robin (1)

1 LPPL - Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire
2 Western Sydney University
3 Centre Hospitalier de Tourcoing

We investigated visual imagery for past and future thinking in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). We invited AD patients and controls to retrieve past events and to imagine future events. Participants also provided a "Field" response if they see the event through their own eyes, or an "Observer" response if they see themselves in the scene as a spectator would. Less "Field" and more "Observer" responses were observed in AD participants than in controls during past and future thinking, suggesting a diminished ability to mentally visualize past and future events in AD. Results also demonstrated significant positive correlations between the production of "Field" responses and specificity during past and future thinking, suggesting a relationship between the ability to mentally visualize past and future events and autobiographical overgenerality in AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Autobiographical memory; Future thinking; Mental imagery; Visual imagery

Domains: Psychology; Geriatry and gerontology

Mohamad El Haj, Ahmed Moustafa, Karim Gallouj, Frédérique Robin. Visual imagery: the past and future as seen by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Consciousness and Cognition, 2019, 68, pp.12-22. ⟨10.1016/j.concog.2018.12.003⟩. ⟨hal-03343641⟩