Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

Abstract

In a complex world, we are constantly faced with environmental stimuli that shape our moment‐to‐moment experiences. But just as rich and complex as the external world is the internal milieu—our imagination. Imagination offers a powerful vehicle for playing out hypothetical experiences in the mind's eye. It allows us to mentally time travel to behold what the future might bring, including our greatest desires or fears. Indeed, imagined experiences tend to be emotion‐laden. How and why are humans capable of this remarkable feat? Based on psychological findings, we highlight the importance of imagination for emotional aspects of cognition and behavior, namely in the generation and regulation of emotions. Based on recent cognitive neuroscience work, we identify putative neural networks that are most critical for emotional imagination, with a major focus on the default mode network. Finally, we briefly highlight the possible functional implications of individual differences in imagination. Overall, we hope to address why humans have the capacity to simulate hypothetical emotional experiences and how this ability can be harnessed in adaptive (and sometimes maladaptive) ways. We end by discussing open questions.

Mental Imagery in the Relationship between Alexithymia and Parental Psychological Control

“…Hormozi and colleagues [ 30 ] discovered that emotional schemas partially mediate the relationship between parental styles and alexithymia in migraine patients. The relevance of mental imagery to psychopathology is acknowledged, given its presumed unique connection with emotion [ 86 , 88 ]. There is a need for increased efforts to incorporate imagery into therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying negative emotional conditions.…”

Learning from imagined experiences via an endogenous prediction error

“…For example, simulations can help us to come up with solutions to dreaded situations and thus mitigate our apprehensiveness about the future (20, 51). Moreover, simulations allow us to mentally experience how we would feel in prospective episodes (32, 52), and this experience can motivate more farsighted decisions (53, 54).…”

Amygdala and hippocampal activation in emotional imagery

“…Although the review is primarily focused on assessing activation of the default mode network, evidence supporting the role of a salience network that includes the amygdala is also considered.Conflicting results reported for significant amygdala activation during emotional imagery are hypothesized to stem from variations in the task design, with the suggestion that it is imagery studies that involve anticipation that prompt heightened BOLD activity in the amygdala. 1…”

“…Conflicting results reported for significant amygdala activation during emotional imagery are hypothesized to stem from variations in the task design, with the suggestion that it is imagery studies that involve anticipation that prompt heightened BOLD activity in the amygdala. 1…”