Martin Conway
(University of Durham, U.K.)

The Self-Memory System (SMS) consists of the autobiographical knowledge base and the working self. Specific autobiographical memories are transitory mental constructions created by the SMS. The working self maintains a complex pattern of accessibility to autobiographical knowledge, one feature of which is raised accessibility to highly goal-relevant autobiographical knowledge. Autobiographical knowledge constrains, in turn, what goals can be held by the working self and what sorts of self-images can be realistically maintained. This dynamic and complex memory system is distributed over networks that topographically are widely dispersed through cortical and limbic regions. Indeed, a particular pattern of brain activation encompassing anterior and posterior networks has been detected, and this may be the neurophysiological ‘signature’ of autobiographical memory formation. Finally, the SMS plays a critical role in individual, generational, and cultural identity, and this is reflected in the raised accessibility of memories from certain periods of life. New data illustrating this function of the SMS are reported