Fraser Milton

Lecturer

Fraser has been looking at the autobiographical memory problems that people with TEA often report. We have found that the autobiographical memory deficits extend across the entire lifespan. There is also evidence for a deficit in personal semantic memory (i.e., facts about ones life), most marked for mid-life periods. Memory for public semantic memory (i.e., facts about people or events) was more selective and restricted to more recent facts. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) we asked a group of patients with TEA to recall memories from their past whilst inside the scanner. We found, overall, a reduced level of activity in the medial temporal lobes (thought to be a key location for memories) which was most marked for the recent periods. At the neural level, there was no evidence for reduced activation for childhood memories. Fraser is now a Lecturer in Psychology and teaches Psychology at the University of Exeter".