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Medical Wiki

Episodic memory

Memory for personal events and experiences, often the type people mean when they say they are becoming forgetful.

What it is

Episodic memory is memory for events and experiences rather than a simple skill or fact list.^[1,2]

Why it matters

People often notice problems here first because daily life depends on remembering appointments, conversations, places, and recent events.^[1,3]

What it affects

Slower recall can occur with aging, while frequent lost items, missed events, or word-finding problems beyond peers can fit an MCI discussion.^[1,3]
In Alzheimer disease, memory problems are often early because memory-related brain regions are affected early.^[4]

Interpretation traps

Memory complaints can be affected by sleep, mood, medicines, sensory loss, delirium, stroke, tumors, thyroid, kidney, liver, and other causes.^[1,5,6]

Related conditions

How memory is stored and lost Age-related memory change Mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer disease: memory-network failure