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Differential contribution of anterior and posterior midline regions during mental simulation of counterfactual and perspective shifts in autobiographical memories.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Faul, L; St Jacques, PL; DeRosa, JT; Parikh, N; De Brigard, F
Published in: NeuroImage
July 2020

Retrieving autobiographical memories induces a natural tendency to mentally simulate alternate versions of past events, either by reconstructing the perceptual details of the originally experienced perspective or the conceptual information of what actually occurred. Here we examined whether the episodic system recruited during imaginative experiences functionally dissociates depending on the nature of this reconstruction. Using fMRI, we evaluated differential patterns of neural activity and hippocampal connectivity when twenty-nine participants naturally recalled past negative events, shifted visual perspective, or imagined better or worse outcomes than what actually occurred. We found that counterfactual thoughts were distinguished by neural recruitment in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, whereas shifts in visual perspective were uniquely supported by the precuneus. Additionally, connectivity with the anterior hippocampus changed depending upon the mental simulation that was performed - with enhanced hippocampal connectivity with medial prefrontal cortex for counterfactual simulations and precuneus for shifted visual perspectives. Together, our findings provide a novel assessment of differences between these common methods of mental simulation and a more detailed account for the neural network underlying episodic retrieval and reconstruction.

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Published In

NeuroImage

DOI

EISSN

1095-9572

ISSN

1053-8119

Publication Date

July 2020

Volume

215

Start / End Page

116843

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Parietal Lobe
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Nerve Net
  • Mental Recall
  • Memory, Episodic
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Imagination
  • Humans
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Faul, L., St Jacques, P. L., DeRosa, J. T., Parikh, N., & De Brigard, F. (2020). Differential contribution of anterior and posterior midline regions during mental simulation of counterfactual and perspective shifts in autobiographical memories. NeuroImage, 215, 116843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116843
Faul, Leonard, Peggy L. St Jacques, Jacqueline T. DeRosa, Natasha Parikh, and Felipe De Brigard. “Differential contribution of anterior and posterior midline regions during mental simulation of counterfactual and perspective shifts in autobiographical memories.NeuroImage 215 (July 2020): 116843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116843.
Faul, Leonard, et al. “Differential contribution of anterior and posterior midline regions during mental simulation of counterfactual and perspective shifts in autobiographical memories.NeuroImage, vol. 215, July 2020, p. 116843. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116843.
Journal cover image

Published In

NeuroImage

DOI

EISSN

1095-9572

ISSN

1053-8119

Publication Date

July 2020

Volume

215

Start / End Page

116843

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Parietal Lobe
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Nerve Net
  • Mental Recall
  • Memory, Episodic
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Imagination
  • Humans