Multidimensional Self, autobiographical memory and aging

Nowadays, several psychological fields are interested in the Self-concept and then propose their own definitions and assessment methods. The Self is considered as a cognitive system and is structurally composed of a set of multidimensional episodic and semantic personal representations. While it could be either the agent or the object of consciousness, the Self is at the origin of the subjective identity and feeling of continuity across the time. In the present review, we aimed at introducing the concept of Self focusing on its links with autobiographical memory and to expose the research about the impact of aging on the Self, distinguishing between its structural (Self-knowledge) and functional (Self-consciousness) dimensions. The results from the literature and our own research group suggest that the Self characteristics are not equally changed by aging, the functional dimensions being more specially involved.