The hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in vivid mental imagery

Dr. Cornelia McCormick (UCL) 

   If we close our eyes, most of us can vividly imagine events from our past or envision never-experienced scenarios set in the future. This type of mental imagery is supported by a key set of brain regions, including the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). However, little is known about each region’s precise contribution or about the nature of their dynamic interactions. In this talk, I will outline my postdoctoral research focused on these issues and drawing on multimodal neuroscientific techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), neuropsychological lesions, and psychophysiology. In doing so, I will illustrate an emerging theme of my recent work, which is that the vmPFC and hippocampus may align in a hierarchical manner. In the last section of the talk, I will outline a novel proposal of how hippocampal-vmPFC interactions may support the initiation and elaboration of vivid mental imagery. Uncovering the neuronal basis of mental imagery offers crucial insights into many experiential cognitive functions such as autobiographical memory, future thinking, and navigation, but is also important, as I will demonstrate, for decision-making, emotion regulation and mind-wandering.