Episodic autobiographical retrieval deficit We assessed in the same population the episodic autobiographical
memory retrieval to examine whether functional changes are associated to breast cancer experience. Remitted breast cancer patients had reduced access to episodic autobiographical memories. Using semantic and episodic tasks of autobiographical memory [34], Viskontas et al. (2000) found that patients with either right or left Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL) damage had a poorer memory for autobiographical events than controls [35].
Noulhiane et al. 2007, using our same task in epileptic patients, observed a deficiency in access to episodic autobiographical memories after MTL resection [1]. These studies rely on lesions of whole hippocampus or larger medial temporal lobe, in our study,we observed a very specific structural volume damage, namely to the posterior hippocampus and still showed a deficit in episodic autobiographical memory.
Since we used a cross-sectional design, we could not confirm
any causality between hippocampal changes, functional changes,
and a history of breast cancer experience. It may be that the
differences existed before the experience of cancer, or that a
reduction of volume occurred during the cancer experience in
itself. Longitudinal studies in this specific population are needed to
assess this further.