Article

On the nature of medial temporal lobe contributions to the constructive simulation of future events.

Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences (impact factor: 6.4). 06/2009; 364(1521):1245-53. DOI:10.1098/rstb.2008.0308 pp.1245-53
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT A rapidly growing number of studies indicate that imagining or simulating possible future events depends on much of the same neural machinery as does remembering past events. One especially striking finding is that the medial temporal lobe (MTL), which has long been linked to memory function, appears to be similarly engaged during future event simulation. This paper focuses on the role of two MTL regions--the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex--in thinking about the future and building mental simulations.

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Keywords

building mental simulations
 
events
 
future event simulation
 
imagining
 
medial temporal lobe
 
memory function
 
simulating possible future events