Abstract
When thinking about the future or the upcoming actions
of another person, we mentally project ourselves into
that alternative situation. Accumulating data suggest
that envisioning the future (prospection), remembering
the past, conceiving the viewpoint of others (theory of
mind) and possibly some forms of navigation reflect the
workings of the same core brain network. These abilities
emerge at a similar age and share a common functional
anatomy that includes frontal and medial temporal systems
that are traditionally associated with planning,
episodic memory and default (passive) cognitive states.
We speculate that these abilities, most often studied as
distinct, rely on a common set of processes by which
past experiences are used adaptively to imagine perspectives
and events beyond those that emerge from
the immediate environment.
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