COGS 130 Lecture 14: Future Thinking (PDF)

Lecture 14: Future Thinking COGS 130: Cognitive Neuroscience October 24, 2024 Copyright © 2019-2024, Kristina Backer  Outline Thinking about the Future – Revisiting Patient K.C. – Mind-Wandering – Types of Future Thinking...

Lecture 14: Future Thinking COGS 130: Cognitive Neuroscience October 24, 2024 Copyright © 2019-2024, Kristina Backer  Outline Thinking about the Future – Revisiting Patient K.C. – Mind-Wandering – Types of Future Thinking – Brain Regions involved in Episodic Future Thinking – Prospective Memory Announcements Review Questions  Memory Memory for the Past – Long-Term Memory (e.g., Episodic, Semantic) Memory for the Present – Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory, Working Memory Memory for the Future?  K.C. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TBr5EC3PmY ET: “Do you feel hopeful about the future?” KC: “I guess so. I don’t really think much about the future.”  Episodic Memory Endel Tulving: – “Mental Time Travel” – “Autonoetic consciousness” – Both to the past AND to the FUTURE. Can K.C. imagine the future? K.C.  K.C. Excerpt from Craver et al., 2014, Neuropsychologia  What does this tell us? Patients with Episodic Amnesia (due to Bilateral Hippocampal/MTL damage): – Do not have episodic memory of their past – Unable to imagine their future – Also unable to construct fictitious scenarios of the future! Do patients with Episodic Amnesia like K.C. understand the concept of time? Are they really “stuck in the present”?  K.C.: Interview with Shayna Rosenbaum Professor at York U in Toronto, Canada Excerpt from Craver et al., 2014, Neuropsychologia  What does this tell us? Do patients with episodic amnesia understand the concepts of time and future? – YES Are they really “stuck in the present”? – Some researchers argue NO (despite the inability to imagine themselves in the future). – They have a semantic understanding of time and future, and K.C. (at least) has been shown to value his future.  Based on K.C., what is the Role of the Hippocampus in Imagining the Future? Figure from Moore et al., 2014, JoVE  Mind-Wandering Mind-Wandering involves thinking about self- generated thoughts, which could include: – Mental Time Travel to Past – Thinking about the Present – Imagining the Future – Visual or Auditory Imagery – Planning for the Future – Ruminating  Mind-Wandering How often do you mind-wander? What percentage of waking hours do you spend day- dreaming or mind-wandering? – According to studies, humans day-dream about 30% to 50% of waking hours!(Kane et al., 2007; Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010) – More day-dreaming when resting or during tasks that are not very cognitively effortful. (Smallwood & Schooler, 2015) Up to 80-90% during Rest (McCormick et al., 2018, J. Neurosci.)  Mind-Wandering When you mind-wander or day dream, do your thoughts travel to the past, present, and/or future? What proportion of the time do you spend thinking about the past, present and future?  Mind-Wandering If a person has damage to the Hippocampus (bilaterally, like KC), can they still day-dream? Will they day-dream about the past, present or future?  Mind-Wandering McCormick et al., 2018, Journal of Neuroscience Study Goal: Quantify the nature of daydreams in patients with amnesia (episodic) vs. healthy controls 2 Groups: 1) Hippocampal amnesia (HPC, n=6); 2) Healthy Controls (CTL, n=12) Shadowed each subject for 2 days (daytime hours) and periodically asked them what’s on their mind. Also, did a few MRI scans across the 2 days. Figure from McCormick et al., 2018, J Neurosci. Mind-Wandering Figure from McCormick et al., 2018, J Neurosci.  Mind-Wandering When you day-dream, what is the nature of your day-dreams (e.g., planning, mental time travel, etc.)? Are your day-dreams usually accompanied with visual imagery (imagined visual scenes) and/or with verbal monologues or dialogues? What about someone with bilateral hippocampal damage? What do you think the nature of their day-dreams would be? Mind-Wandering Figure from McCormick et al., 2018, J Neurosci. Mind-Wandering Figure from McCormick et al., 2018, J Neurosci. Mind-Wandering Figure from McCormick et al., 2018, J Neurosci. Conclusions from McCormick et al. Patients with episodic amnesia (due to bilateral hippocampal damage) have spontaneous thoughts. However, the nature of the Patients’ thought patterns were different from Controls: – Mostly in the Present – Semantic (Few Episodic) – Verbally-Mediated Hippocampus plays a crucial role in day-dreams involving Episodic thoughts.  Future Thinking aka “Prospection” 4 Forms of Future Thinking: – 1) Prediction: How likely is a future outcome? – 2) Simulation: Constructing a specific mental image of something in the future. – 3) Goal-Setting (aka “Intention”) – 4) Planning: What steps to I need to take to reach a goal, and in what order should I take these steps?  Future Thinking Continuum from Semantic to Episodic Semantic Episodic Thinking about Thinking about general things or specific personal world events that events that could could happen in the happen in one’s future. future. Examples? Examples?  Episodic Future Thinking SIMULATION “The capacity to imagine or simulate events that may happen in one’s personal future.” – Schacter et al., 2017, Curr Op Behav Sci “allows us to pre- experience our future” – Atance & O’Neill, 2001  Episodic Future Thinking How do we construct episodic simulations of our personal futures? – Semantic Scaffolding Hypothesis: Use our past knowledge (semantic memories) to provide a framework. Use our past episodic memories to fill in that semantic framework, enabling us to imagine the future in the first person. Example: Imagine meeting a friend next week at a particular café that you’ve been to before…  Episodic Future Thinking Which brain regions (or networks) are involved in episodic future thinking (simulation)? – Similar brain regions that are involved in Episodic Memory Retrieval! Including the Hippocampus and MTL! Lateral Medial Benoit & Schacter, 2015, Neuropsychologia  Episodic Future Thinking Which brain regions are involved in episodic future thinking (simulation)? – Also, Episodic Future Thinking has GREATER activity in some regions, including the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. Lateral Medial Benoit & Schacter, 2015, Neuropsychologia How can Episodic Future Thinking benefit our lives? Imagining reaching a desirable health goal (exercising regularly) can make it easier to make healthy decisions. Imagining possible positive outcomes of a stressful or anxiety- producing situation can decrease anxiety about that situation. Imagining an intention or future task (stopping by the grocery store to pick up milk) improves the chance that the intention or task will be remembered and executed. Imagining traveling along a particular route actually can facilitate a spatial navigational goal (finding the best route). Schacter et al., 2017, Curr Op Behav Sci  Prospective Memory Remembering to execute our Intentions (Future Goals/Tasks) at some point in the future. Prospective: Refers to remembering at the correct moment that something has to be done. (There’s also a retrospective memory component: Remembering what it is that you are supposed to do at that moment.)  Prospective Memory Can be Time-Based (remember to do something at a certain time) – Examples? Can be Event-Based (remember to do something during a particular event or when you’re at a certain location) – Examples? Which is more difficult to remember? Prospective Memory Quote from McDaniel et al. 2013, Psychological Science  Prospective Memory 2 Supporting Mechanisms: – 1) Sustained Top-Down Attentional Control: Keep thinking about your intention (e.g., to take grocery bags) throughout the day, while doing other tasks. Quote from McDaniel et al. 2013, Psychological Science  Prospective Memory 2 Supporting Mechanisms: – 2) Bottom-Up Attentional Control: Forgot about taking your intention, but something in the environment reminded you about it (e.g., seeing your grocery bags by the front door). Quote from McDaniel et al. 2013, Psychological Science  Prospective Memory Moral of the Story: How to Remember your Grocery Bags? Quote from McDaniel et al. 2013, Psychological Science  Announcements Extra Credit Reminder: – Earn up to 4%: SONA + Jeopardy – Earn additional 1%: Attend at least 12/15 sections Homework 6: Due Thursday, October 31 – Journal Article Reading Discussion Sections Tomorrow:  Review Questions Describe how K.C. thinks about the future. Differences in type/nature of daydreams between healthy controls and patients with episodic amnesia? Is the hippocampus necessary for episodic future thinking? Why or why not?  Review Questions Describe the four types of Future Thinking. Difference between Episodic and Semantic Future Thinking? Compare/Contrast brain activity involved in Episodic Memory Retrieval and Episodic Future Thinking.  Review Questions What is Prospective Memory? What are the 2 types of Prospective Memory? Examples of each? How do bottom-up attentional control (reflexive attention) and sustained top-down attentional control (voluntary attention) relate to Prospective Memory?