Autobiographical Memory: A Scoping Meta-Review of Neuroimaging Data Enlightens the Inconsistencies Between Theory and Experimentation.

Background/Objectives: Autobiographical memory (AM) is typically viewed in terms of comprising episodic (EAM) and semantic (SAM) components. Despite the emergence of numerous meta-analyses, the literature on these constructs remains fragmented. We aimed to summarize neural activations and to discuss the relations between constructs based on theory and experimentation, while evaluating the consistency between literature sources and discussing the critical issues and challenges of current research. Methods: We conducted a scoping meta-review on AM, EAM, and SAM based on meta-analytic studies in five scientific databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsychInfo, and PsychArticles). No temporal or language limits were applied. Results: We included twelve meta-analyses on AM, EAM and SAM in healthy populations. The meta-analyses of AM and EAM actually investigated the same construct, leading to misinterpretation. The two available meta-analyses on SAM used two different operationalizations of the construct. Neural data about EAM were analyzed via mean rank classification, finding the most relevant areas in the posterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, precuneus, temporo-parietal junction, angular gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex. SAM was linked to the posterior and anterior cingulate cortexes, middle and inferior frontal gyri, thalamus, middle and superior temporal gyri, inferior frontal and fusiform gyri, and parahippocampal cortex. Conclusions: Variability in reported activation patterns persists, reflecting differences in methodology and assumptions. We propose the homogenization the notations of EAM and AM based on experimental practice. In this notation, AM does not have a separate experimental task nor activation pattern and may not indicate a separate construct but an array of its components.