Verbal Recall in Autism: Effects of Context and Emotion

Abstract:
Several deficits have been proposed to account for autism including an inability to process emotional information and difficulty drawing together diverse information (central coherence). Both context (central coherence) and emotion can influence memory. We tested 10 high functioning subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 13 age and IQ matched controls using recall tests. In the emotional memory test the subjects listened to statements that were highly emotional or non-emotional and asked to recall the statements. In the coherence memory test subjects listened to stories that were, or were not, logical and coherent. There were no significant differences between either groups in the recall of coherent verses incoherent stories. However, the control subjects recalled more of the emotional than non-emotional sentences, yet the ASD group did not demonstrate a difference. Our study demonstrates that ASD subject's memory is not facilitated by emotional content, yet the reasons for this deficit are unknown.