Autobiographical Specificity

Autobiographical memory is diminished in patients with Alzheimer's Disease and those with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, and research has focused on the hampered ability of patients in retrieving specific memories. However, this study proposes a detailed methodology to provide a qualitative analysis of autobiographical specificity.

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Key information

Conditions

Memory Alzheimer Disease Brain Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Dementia Frontotemporal Dementia Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Mental Disorders Metabolic Diseases Nervous System Diseases Neurocognitive Disorders Neurodegenerative Diseases Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Proteostasis Deficiencies TDP-43 Proteinopathies Tauopathies

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

EL HAJ Mohamad

Nantes, France

About this study

Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and those with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia will be invited to retrieve autobiographical memories. Memories will be analyzed and categorized into specific, categoric, extended, or semantic autobiographical retrieval.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Alzheimer' disease or avioral variant of frontotemporal dementia
No opposition from the patient to be included in the study
For Alzheimer's patients: a score of more than 24 out of 30 on the Mini Mental State Examination (McKhann et al., 1984)

Exclusion criteria

Other psychiatric/neurological disorders
Minor patients
Adults under guardianship or protection.

Treatment and study plan

Autobiographical reminder

Other

The analysis of the specificity of Autobiographical Recall will be done through the following scale, developed for the study:

6 points for a recall involving a single personal event located in space AND time (e.g.,"I remember when my parents took me to the sea for the first time..in 1962..in Dunkerque")
5 points for a recall involving a single personal event located in space OR time ("I remember when my parents first took me to the sea...in 1962")
4 points for a recall involving a single personal event but without spatial/temporal details ("I remember when my parents took me to the sea for the first time")
3 points for a recall involving a general personal event but located in space AND time ("we used to go to Dunkerque in the summer")
2 points for a recall involving a general personal event but located in space OR time ("we used to go to Dunkerque")
1 point for a recall involving a general personal event without spatial/temporal details ("we used to go on vacation")

Primary outcomes

Autobiographical specificity

Time frame: 40 minutes

We will apply the method by Raes et al. (2007) to assess whether each retrieved event refers to a: specific event, categorical event, extended event, or semantic event

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Nantes University Hospital

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Autobiographical Specificity in Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

Acronym: ESAD

Important dates

Study start: 2023
Primary completion: 2026
Study completion: 2026
First posted: Dec 8, 2022
Registry last updated: Apr 3, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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