Memories for events, including autobiographical experiences, can be retrieved from an own eyes perspective, how events are typically formed, or from an observer-like perspective in which one see’s oneself in the memory. Adopting an observer-like perspective has long been thought to reflect the transformation of memories overtime. Consistent with that idea, remote memories are associated with a greater frequency of observer perspectives in memories, whereas recent memories are associated with more frequent own eyes perspectives. Additionally, visual perspective is related to the phenomenology and content of memory retrieval. However, visual perspective is not merely epiphenomenon of these changes in memories overtime, but can also exert mnemonic changes when people actively shift to novel viewpoints during memory retrieval. In this talk, I will present behavioural and functional neuroimaging data that demonstrate how visual perspective during retrieval shapes memories during immediate and subsequent retrieval. I will end the talk by discussing the functions and origin of multiple visual perspectives in memories and offer directions for future research.
