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Review
. 2009 May 12;364(1521):1291-300.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0315.

Structured event complexes in the medial prefrontal cortex support counterfactual representations for future planning

Aron K Barbey  1 , Frank Krueger, Jordan Grafman
Affiliations
Review

Structured event complexes in the medial prefrontal cortex support counterfactual representations for future planning

Aron K Barbey et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. .

Abstract

We propose that counterfactual representations for reasoning about the past or predicting the future depend on structured event complexes (SECs) in the human prefrontal cortex (PFC; 'What would happen if X were performed in the past or enacted in the future?'). We identify three major categories of counterfactual thought (concerning action versus inaction, the self versus other and upward versus downward thinking) and propose that each form of inference recruits SEC representations in distinct regions of the medial PFC. We develop a process model of the regulatory functions these representations serve and draw conclusions about the importance of SECs for explaining the past and predicting the future.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SEC framework. The representational forms of structured event complexes (SEC) and their proposed localizations within the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
Figure 2
Figure 2
A process model of the regulatory functions underlying counterfactual thought.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Neural predictions of the SEC theory of counterfactual thought. The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) represents counterfactual reasoning about action versus inaction, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) represents counterfactual thoughts directed towards the self versus other and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) represents upward versus downward counterfactual thinking.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barbey, A. K. & Barsalou, L. W. 2009 Reasoning and problem solving: models. In New encyclopedia of neuroscience, vol. 3 (eds L. Squire, T. Albright, F. Bloom, F. Gage & N. Spitzer), pp. 35–43. Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
    1. Barbey A.K., Sloman S.A. Base-rate respect: from ecological rationality to dual processes. Behav. Brain Sci. 2007;30:241–297. doi:10.1017/S0140525x07001653 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barbey, A. K. & Wolff, P. 2006 Causal reasoning from forces. In Proc. 28th Annual Conf. Cognitive Science Society Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
    1. Barbey, A. K. & Wolff, P. 2007 Learning causal structure from reasoning. In Proc. 29th Annual Conf. Cognitive Science Society Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Press.
    1. Barbey, A. K. & Wolff, P. Submitted. Composing causal relations in force dynamics.

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