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Theory

In the following section, the three intersections of the fields Mental Health, Mnemonics, and VR are examined. This lays a basis of understanding the status quo. It shows where the research and product development in the topic space of this project are right now.

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Mental Health & Mnemonics

Before understanding how mnemonic techniques can be of help in mental health treatment, one first has to take a quick look at how autobiographical memory works. According to Conway and Pleydell-Pearce’s Self-memory system, autobiographical memory is hierarchical, with the lowest layer being ESK (event-specific knowledge). ESK is what we think of as moment-to-moment memories, consisting of images and potentially different kinds of sensations, how we remember the experience of being in a situation. All higher layers of memory are made up of generalizations, categories and ideas about certain subgroups of ESK to be useful for quick access. All these layers are in constant flux and connected to our ideas about ourselves, and our moods and goals influence both how memories are both encoded and retrieved.

A problem many people with depression face, is memory not working correctly. In these cases the memory system seems to develop a pattern of avoiding ESK memory access, and staying at the level of generalizations, since retrieving ESK is associated with the chance of negative feelings, due to traumatic or negative experiences in the past. [Williams et al, Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Emotional Disorder] This limiting of depth of memory recall can lead to a huge loss in the feeling of richness of experience in life. This limits the ability to reality-check negative thought patterns and also deprives the patients of access to positive memory to be recalled as a tool, to potentially repair a negative mood and gain a much needed change of perspective in a situation. This technique is called mood-incongruent recall, and usually has to be trained and actively used, since the memory system has the tendency to usually only recall memories congruent with the mood, to stabilize the mood, be it a good or bad one.

The beforementioned 2013 study [Method-of-Loci as a Mnemonic Device to Facilitate Access to Self-Affirming Personal Memories for Individuals With Depression] with the 2016 followup [The Method-of-Loci improves longer-term retention of self-affirming memories and facilitates access to mood-repairing memories in recurrent depression] shows a possible way of enhancing incongruent mood recall and ESK access through the Method of Loci technique. Candidates diagnosed with depression were asked to think of 15 self-affirmative memories and actively deepen their moment-to-moment recall. These were then associated with loci in a memory palace, the technique was trained a few times during the trial. When checked in as much as 3 months later, whith no further training or guided recall inbetween, the patients still showed increased access to these self-affirmative memories. This implies potential in the use of the MoL for use in depression treatment.

This theroretic foundation supplies an important base going forward developing the application, specifically when it comes to testing and veryfying different ways of the use of the MoL in regards to emotional impact/mood repair.

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Schematic of the Self-Memory-System, Conway

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