[Reminiscence bump and contents of autobiographical memory in Japanese elders].

A reminiscence bump is a phenomenon that people typically remember the events experienced the ages of 10 and 30 more often than these experienced in other period. This paper investigates (I) whether a reminiscence bump is found in autobiographical memory in Japanese elders, and (2) the features and content of autobiographical memories in general and in the bump. Twenty-five participants more than sixty-years old recalled past events using a cue-word method, described the content of each memory, dated the event, and rated the features of the memory on five scales, i.e., vividness, importance, present self-involvement, past self-involvement, and frequency of recall. The results showed that although a reminiscence bump emerged, memories within the bump did not differ from other memories in terms of rated features nor in content. Approximately 50% of autobiographical memories were "self-centered", 30% were about "self-other relations", and the rest were "other-centered" and "scenes" which did not involve people. The results were discussed in relation to theories about the reminiscence bump.

Pathology of pure hippocampal sclerosis in a patient with dementia and Hodgkin's disease: the Ophelia syndrome.

An archive autopsy case of a 50-year-old man who died of Hodgkin's lymphoma had a 4-year, 4-month history of dementia. After radiochemotherapy, the lymphoma subsided except for involvement of the spleen, but the dementia remained. Neuropathological examination revealed that the pathology was confined to the hippocampus, both hippocampi showing sclerosis without inflammation. Neurons of sector cornu ammonis (CA) 1 were completely lost whereas moderate neuron loss was also observed in sectors CA3 and 4, and the dentate gyrus. Neurons of sector CA2 were relatively well preserved and the subiculum was intact. There was no evidence of global hypoxia, or of neurodegenerative disorders with pathological changes affecting the hippocampus. Although there was a long preneoplastic history, and no inflammatory changes were found at autopsy, the present case of hippocampal sclerosis could be included in the category of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma or the Ophelia syndrome.