Other mnemonic systems impaired in alcoholism include prospective memory (Griffiths et al., 2012), which is the ability to remember to perform an action at a specific point in the future, and autobiographical memory (D’Argembeau et al., 2006), which is memory formed by different types of representation from specific personal events (episodic components) to general knowledge about oneself (semantic component) (Conway, 2001; Tulving et al., 1988). A specific autobiographical memory disorder affecting both the episodic dimension (i.e., long-term memories about specific personal experiences) and the semantic dimension (i.e., general knowledge about past life events) was observed in recently abstinent alcoholic individuals. This deficit persisted after 6 months of abstinence, and was potentially explained by compromised encoding and consolidation of memories during drinking periods (Nandrino et al., 2016). Also potentially impaired is source memory for recently learned information, which is the ability to discriminate and recall the origin or source of information (Schwartz et al., 2002).
