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Prospection and the brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2007

Randy L. Buckner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Athinoula A Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA 02138. rbuckner@wjh.harvard.edu

Abstract

Suddendorf & Corballis (S&C) propose that the capacity to flexibly forsee the future was a critical step in human evolution and is accomplished by a set of component processes that can be likened to a theater production. Understanding the brain-bases of these functions may help to clarify the hypothesized component processes, inform us of how and when they are used adaptively, and also provide empirical ways of exploring to what degree these abilities exist and are implemented similarly (or differently) across species.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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