Episodic Memory and Episodic Future Thinking Impairments in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Underlying Difficulty With Scene Construction or Self-Projection?

Objective: There appears to be a common network of brain regions that underlie the ability to recall

experiences (episodic future thinking). At the cognitive level, these abilities are thought to rely on

dependent on hippocampal functioning) and temporal “self-projection” (the ability to mentally

disorder (ASD) is characterized by diminished episodic memory, it is unclear whether episodic

(difficulties with scene construction, self-projection, or both) is yet to be established. The current

adults with ASD and 29 age- and IQ-matched neurotypical comparison adults were

construction), (b) imagined plausible self-relevant future episodes (assessing episodic future thinking),

narrative ability and theory of mind were also completed. Results: Performances of participants with

independent of general narrative ability. Conclusions: Given that participants with ASD were

underlying difficulty with episodic memory/future thinking is one of scene construction.