Contributions of episodic retrieval and mentalizing to autobiographical thought: evidence from functional neuroimaging, resting-state connectivity, and fMRI meta-analyses.

ABSTRACT: A growing number of studies suggest the brain's "default network" becomes engaged when individuals recall their personal past or simulate their future. Recent reports of heterogeneity within the network raise the possibility that these autobiographical processes comprised of multiple component processes, each supported by distinct functional-anatomic subsystems. We previously hypothesized that a medial temporal subsystem contributes to autobiographical memory and future thought by enabling individuals to retrieve prior information and bind this information into a mental scene. Conversely, a dorsal medial subsystem was proposed to support social-reflective aspects of autobiographical thought, allowing individuals to reflect on the mental states of one's self and others (i.e. "mentalizing").

SUBMITTER: Andrews-Hanna JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4001766 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature