Episodic memory and self-awareness in Asperger Syndrome: Analysis of memory narratives

•We study links between episodic memory, self-awareness and autonoetic consciousness in AS.•Patients with AS produced fewer episodic memories than controls.•Patients with AS used less possessive pronouns and family-related vocabulary than did controls.•Deficiency of episodic memory may be due to poor awareness of the self in social relationships.•This may indicate less self-investment in life experiences, which would impact recall.

Previous findings from researchers on individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS) suggest peculiarities of autobiographical memory (AM). They have shown a personal episodic memory deficit in the absence of a personal semantic memory impairment. The primary aim of this study was to explore AM in individuals with AS, and more specifically to investigate the link between episodic memory, self-awareness, and autonoetic consciousness through language analysis. We asked fifteen adults with AS and fifteen age- and IQ-matched controls to recall autobiographical memories from three life periods. Recorded interviews were processed using Alceste software. We found that participants with AS recalled fewer and less-detailed episodic memories than did controls. A content analysis revealed that family-related vocabulary as well as possessive pronouns was significantly less frequent in AS interviews than in those of controls. In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that a deficiency of episodic memory may be due to poor awareness of the self in social relationships. Reduced use of possessive pronouns may also indicate less self-investment in life experiences, which would in turn impact recall.