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Emotional Future Simulations: Neural and Cognitive Perspectives

Overview
Journal Cereb Cortex
Publisher Oxford University Press
Specialty Neurology
Date 2024 Oct 10
PMID 39385535
Authors
Daniel L Schacter
Sarah E Kalinowski
Jenna M Wilson
Affiliations
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Abstract

LeDoux's work on the emotional brain has had broad impact in neuroscience and psychology. Here, we discuss an aspect of the emotional brain that we have examined in our laboratory during the past two decades: emotional future simulations or constructed mental representations of positive and negative future experiences. Specifically, we consider research concerning (i) neural correlates of emotional future simulations, (ii) how emotional future simulations impact subsequent cognition and memory, (iii) the role of emotional future simulations in worry and anxiety, and (iv) individual differences in emotional future simulation related to narcissistic grandiosity. The intersection of emotion and future simulation is closely linked to some of LeDoux's primary scientific concerns.

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