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Motor Imagery Performance Through Embodied Digital Twins in a Virtual Reality-Enabled Brain-Computer Interface Environment

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Imagining predictions: mental imagery as mental emulation.

Samuel T Moulton¹, Stephen M Kosslyn

¹Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. moulton@wjh.harvard.edu

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences

|June 17, 2009

Summary

Mental imagery enables predictions from past experiences, answering "what if" questions. This simulation, termed emulation, mimics real-world processes for enhanced outcomes.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Mental imagery plays a crucial role in cognitive functions.
Understanding the precise mechanisms and purpose of mental imagery is an ongoing research area.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a novel framework for understanding the primary function of mental imagery.
To define mental imagery as a specific form of simulation called emulation.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis integrating existing theories of mental imagery.
Theoretical argument based on the functional and representational characteristics of imagery.

Main Results:

Mental imagery's core function is generating predictions based on past experiences.
Imagery allows for exploration of potential consequences in hypothetical situations ('what if' scenarios).
Imagery relies on perceptual representations and activates associated brain systems.

Conclusions:

All mental imagery can be understood as a form of simulation, specifically 'emulation'.
Emulation involves mental processes that mirror those active in the simulated scenario.
This emulation approach offers advantages over simpler mimicry-based simulations.