How do Brains Imagine?

Cognitive scientists hypothesize that our ability to imagine is the result of something called a "mental workplace," a neural network that coordinates activity across multiple regions of the brain.

Discussing his latest research, neuroscientist Alex Schlegel explores this in its relation to consciousness and the future of 'fathoming the mind'.

Question: What do you understand by the word 'Imagination'?

I think of imagination as a flexible, creative, playful process in which we recall things we have experienced or learned in the past and reshape them into new possibilities, ideas, concepts, theories, art works, etc. Note that imagination doesn't need to be visual. Probably through lack of imagination, we tend to use the single term "imagery" for all sorts of both visual and non-visual internally driven experiences.

Continue reading interaliamag.org

Video taken from TEDEd