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Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
Published on: August 26, 2011
Autobiographical memory in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa
Monica Bomba1, Mirella Marfone, Elisa Brivio
1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy; Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.
Objective:
The aim of the study is to investigate deficits in autobiographical memory in adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN).
Methods:
Sixty female individuals with AN and 60 healthy volunteers with an age range of 11-18 years were enrolled. The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), the Eating Disorder Inventory-3, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 for the evaluation of alexithymia and Children's Depression Inventory to evaluate depressive traits were administered. In addition to classical AMT words, we proposed seven experimental cues, chosen from words often used by individuals with eating disorders in daily life.
Results:
Girls with AN showed a massive overgeneral memory effect. This effect was not related to the presence of depression or alexithymia but increased with the duration of the disorder rather than with its severity.
Discussion:
The alteration of autobiographical memory manifests in adolescence. Girls with AN showed a dysregulation of both negative and positive emotional experiences that seemed to be influenced by the disease duration.
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