The future depends on the past

Our ability to dream about the future is closely related to the ability to recall the past, and even depends on it. A new study has helped explain the strange phenomenon of amnesia.

Researchers compared the brain activity of volunteers when they in turn recalled past events such as birthdays, lost . and then imagined similar scenarios in the future. . Brain scans of 21 students revealed a surprising coincidence in the area of ​​the brain used in both processes.

" Our results support the idea that memories and the future have a mutual relationship and help explain why people cannot think of the future without memory, " Karl Szpunar, the mind says at the University of Washington.

Explained phenomenon : The model of activity seen in brain regions shows that the space and object context for future images is borrowed from the past.

Moreover, students often place future images in situations with similar people and places. This requires reactivation of images taken from the nervous system to store and restore personal memories.

The results can explain why people with amnesia cannot imagine themselves in the future.

MT