The dimensions of episodic simulation

Mahr, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104085

Cited by 46 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 137 publications

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“…Adult humans seem to have two main ways in which they can cognitively represent information about past events. On the one hand, information about specific past events can be represented propositionally in semantic memory, as in “the Berlin Wall fell on the night of November 9th, 1989.” Although this way of representing information about events is common, humans also recall events as rich, quasiperceptual representations of specific past episodes (Clayton & Russell, 2009; Mahr, in press). 3…”

Section: The Nature and Communicative Function Of Episodic Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 3. A lot of research on episodic memory in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience has recently focused on the neurocognitive similarities between remembering the past and imagining the future (e.g., Addis, 2018; Schacter et al, 2012). However, it seems to be sometimes forgotten in this research effort that remembering the past and imagining the future are obviously and crucially different activities (Mahr, in press). Even though these capacities might share a neurocognitive substrate, they must have obviously been subject to different selection pressures: The past plays a fundamentally different role in our lives than the future does (Mahr, 2019).…”

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Witnessing, Remembering, and Testifying: Why the Past Is Special for Human Beings

Mahr

Csibra

2020

Perspect Psychol Sci

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The past is undeniably special for human beings. To a large extent, both individuals and collectives define themselves through history. Moreover, humans seem to have a special way of cognitively representing the past: episodic memory. As opposed to other ways of representing knowledge, remembering the past in episodic memory brings with it the ability to become a witness. Episodic memory allows us to determine what of our knowledge about the past comes from our own experience and thereby what parts of the past we can give testimony about. In this article, we aim to give an account of the special status of the past by asking why humans have developed the ability to give testimony about it. We argue that the past is special for human beings because it is regularly, and often principally, the only thing that can determine present social realities such as commitments, entitlements, and obligations. Because the social effects of the past often do not leave physical traces behind, remembering the past and the ability to bear testimony it brings is necessary for coordinating social realities with other individuals.

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Section: The Nature and Communicative Function Of Episodic Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Witnessing, Remembering, and Testifying: Why the Past Is Special for Human Beings

Mahr

Csibra

2020

Perspect Psychol Sci

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“…Of course, beliefs in the occurrence of past and future events differ in epistemic status, as the past has happened whereas the future has yet to come (Perrin, 2016). Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that future‐oriented thoughts are associated, in varying degrees, with a subjective sense that the imagined events will (or will not) materialize in the future—referred to as belief in future occurrence (Ernst, Scoboria, & D'Argembeau, 2019; Ernst & D'Argembeau, 2017; Scoboria, Mazzoni, Ernst, & D'Argembeau, 2020; see also Mahr, 2020, for further discussion of the dimension of factuality of episodic simulations). Although belief in future occurrence can be based on systematic likelihood judgments, it need not be the case and most of the time it may arise from implicit or heuristic processes, such that the sense of “realness” of imagined events is directly given to experience (in fact, a systematic evaluation of likelihood may mainly occur when envisioned events feel uncertain).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The predictive validity of belief in future occurrence

D’Argembeau

Jimenez

2020

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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Prospection is associated, in varying degrees, with a sense that imagined events will (or will not) happen in the future-referred to as belief in future occurrence. The present research investigated to what extent this belief is justified and predicts the actual occurrence of events in the future. In two studies, participants rated their belief in the future occurrence of events imagined to happen in the coming month (Study 1) or week (Study 2), and the actual occurrence of events was then assessed. Results showed that the odds of event occurrence were about 2 times higher with an increase of 1 unit on the belief scale. Belief was particularly pronounced for temporally close events and was largely determined by the congruence of events with autobiographical knowledge. These results suggest that belief in future occurrence has some truth value and may inform decisions and actions.

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“…The FIN is part of the ventral cortical visual pathway; during perception, it receives visual information from more posterior regions. Medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures may provide a neural substrate for recombining elements of past experiences to generate episodic simulations in VMI (Mahr, 2020; Schacter, Addis, & Buckner, 2007). MTL structures, together with the posterior cingulate, and perhaps with the fronto-parietal attention networks, may contribute to the phenomenal experience of VMI as “quasi-visual” in nature (sometimes referred to as “vividness” of visual mental images) (Fulford et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual mental imagery engages the left fusiform gyrus, but not the early visual cortex: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence

Spagna

Hajhajate

Liu

2020

Preprint

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The neural bases of visual mental imagery (VMI) are the object of intense debate. Their identification is central to define the brain substrates our conscious experience and can be clinically important to reveal consciousness in non-communicating patients or to alleviate posttraumatic stress disorder. The dominant model of VMI stipulates a functional and anatomical equivalence between visual mental imagery and visual perception. In patients with acquired brain damage, the model predicts a systematic co-occurrence of perceptual and imaginal deficits.However, patients with lesions restricted to the occipital cortex often experience vivid mental images, even in case of cortical blindness resulting from bilateral V1 damage. Instead, patients with extensive left temporal damage are more likely to have impaired VMI. On the other hand, some neuroimaging and neuromodulatory evidence does suggest an implication of striate cortex in VMI. To address this discrepancy, we conducted an activation-likelihood-estimation-based large-scale meta-analysis of 46 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments to map the extent of cortical activation associated with three contrasts: (1) all studies combined; (2) VMI versus Control, (3) VMI versus Perception, and (4) Motor Mental Imagery versus Control.Results from the VMI versus Control contrast demonstrated an association between VMI and activation increase in the frontoparietal and cingulo-opercular networks, as well as in the left fusiform gyrus. Results from the VMI versus Perception contrast showed the association between VMI and activation increase of the anterior insular and supplementary motor area / anterior cingulate cortices, bilaterally. Conjunction analyses between the VMI versus Control and the VMI Mental Imagery versus Perception contrasts showed the activation of the left anterior insular cortex and in the bilateral supplementary motor area / anterior cingulate cortex.Results from the Motor Mental Imagery versus Control contrast showed that mental motor imagery increases the activation of the cerebellum and of the superior frontal gyri bilaterally, of the left supplementary motor area, of the anterior portion of the left calcarine sulcus, and of the left fusiform / parahippocampal gyri. Conjunction analyses between the VMI versus Control and the Motor Mental Imagery versus Control contrasts showed the activation of the bilateral superior frontal gyrus as well as of the left supplementary motor area / anterior cingulate cortex.Thus, the results stress the importance for VMI of brain networks associated with attentional control and working memory functions, together with rostral portions of the cortical ventral visual stream. Bayesian analysis confirmed the lack of evidence for an activation of the early visual areas in VMI, consistent with the results from brain-damaged patients. Our evidence suggests a revision of the VMI model. A Fusiform Imagery Node (FIN) in the area FG3 of the left fusiform gyrus might act as a hub retrieving visual information from long-term sem...

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The dimensions of episodic simulation

Cited by 46 publications

References 137 publications

Witnessing, Remembering, and Testifying: Why the Past Is Special for Human Beings

Witnessing, Remembering, and Testifying: Why the Past Is Special for Human Beings

The predictive validity of belief in future occurrence

Visual mental imagery engages the left fusiform gyrus, but not the early visual cortex: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence

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