Episodic simulation of future events: concepts, data, and applications

Expectations Versus Fantasies and Vaccine Hesitancy: How Suffering From COVID-19 Versus Suffering From Vaccines Interact

BACKGROUND

Previous research on COVID-19 vaccination highlights future thoughts associated with possible Coronavirus infection and vaccine side effects as key predictors of vaccine hesitancy. Yet, research has focused on independent contributions of such future thoughts, neglecting their interactive aspects.

PURPOSE

We examined whether thoughts about two possible COVID-related futures (suffering from COVID-19 and vaccine side effects) interactively predict vaccine hesitancy and vaccination behavior among unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Importantly, we compared two forms of future thinking: beliefs or expectations (likelihood judgments) versus fantasies (free thoughts and images describing future events).

METHODS

In Study 1, we conducted a longitudinal study with an unvaccinated group (N = 210). We assessed expectations versus fantasies about the two COVID-related futures as predictors. As outcome variables, we measured vaccine hesitancy, and 9 weeks later we assessed information seeking and vaccine uptake. Study 2 was a cross-sectional study comparing vaccine hesitancy of an unvaccinated group (N = 307) to that of a vaccinated group (N = 311).

RESULTS

Study 1 found that more negative fantasies about COVID-19 impact and less negative fantasies about vaccine side effects interactively predicted lower vaccine hesitancy and more vaccine-related behaviors among unvaccinated people; no such interaction was observed between respective expectations. Study 2 replicated these results of Study 1. Additionally, for vaccinated people, low expectations of negative COVID-19 impact and high expectations of negative vaccine impact interactively predicted higher vaccine hesitancy, whereas no such interaction was observed for respective fantasies.

CONCLUSIONS

Research on vaccine hesitancy should explore interactions between future thinking about disease and about vaccine side effects. Importantly, there is much to be gained by distinguishing expectations versus fantasies: vaccination interventions aiming to boost vaccine uptake among unvaccinated people should tap into their negative future fantasies regarding both disease and vaccine side effects.

Forgetting ourselves in flow: an active inference account of flow states and how we experience ourselves within them

Flow has been described as a state of optimal performance, experienced universally across a broad range of domains: from art to athletics, gaming to writing. However, its phenomenal characteristics can, at first glance, be puzzling. Firstly, individuals in flow supposedly report a loss of self-awareness, even though they perform in a manner which seems to evince their agency and skill. Secondly, flow states are felt to be effortless, despite the prerequisite complexity of the tasks that engender them. In this paper, we unpick these features of flow, as well as others, through the active inference framework, which posits that action and perception are forms of active Bayesian inference directed at sustained self-organisation; i.e., the minimisation of variational free energy. We propose that the phenomenology of flow is rooted in the deployment of high precision weight over (i) the expected sensory consequences of action and (ii) beliefs about how action will sequentially unfold. This computational mechanism thus draws the embodied cognitive system to minimise the ensuing (i.e., expected) free energy through the exploitation of the pragmatic affordances at hand. Furthermore, given the challenging dynamics the flow-inducing situation presents, attention must be wholly focussed on the unfolding task whilst counterfactual planning is restricted, leading to the attested loss of the sense of self-as-object. This involves the inhibition of both the sense of self as a temporally extended object and higher-order, meta-cognitive forms of self-conceptualisation. Nevertheless, we stress that self-awareness is not entirely lost in flow. Rather, it is pre-reflective and bodily. Our approach to bodily-action-centred phenomenology can be applied to similar facets of seemingly agentive experience beyond canonical flow states, providing insights into the mechanisms of so-called selfless experiences, embodied expertise and wellbeing.

Hypnotically enhancing behavioral activation in the treatment of depression

Depressive disorders are common conditions associated with high personal and economic burdens. The best treatment outcomes occur in patients receiving both psychotherapy and antidepressant medications. Behavioral activation is one approach within the most widely available and studied psychotherapy frameworks (cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT) utilized for depression, and is effective in treating depression even in isolation from the rest of the CBT approach. Many hypnosis treatments for depression have been developed to incorporate various CBT techniques, including behavioral activation. However, research regarding the applications of hypnosis to facilitate behavioral activation has been slow to emerge. Addressing this relative gap in the literature may be possible through a broader review of the relevant literature. There is quality evidence speaking to the efficacy of diverse clinician-guided visualization or imagery exercises in the treatment of depression by means of behavioral activation. While not explicitly hypnosis, the similarities of these interventions to more typical hypnosis interventions are highly salient. Clinicians and researchers interested in hypnosis's applications to treating depression would benefit from adopting a more comprehensive consideration of the relevant literature.

College students' daily mind wandering is related to lower social well-being

Objective: This study sought to examine how daily mind wandering is related to loneliness, felt connection to others, and school belonging among college students. Participants: Three samples (n = 209, n = 173, and n = 266) from two US campuses were recruited. Methods: Data were collected via ecological momentary assessment over the course of two academic quarters in one sample and an academic semester in two samples. Results: Social well-being declined throughout the academic term in all samples. Lower day-to-day mind wandering predicted lower loneliness at the next time point and was concurrently related to a higher felt connection to others and higher school belonging. Thoughts about the past and future were associated with lower social well-being than present-focused thoughts. Conclusions: This study supports the proposition that promoting present-centered attention can benefit college students' social well-being and alleviate their feelings of loneliness and isolation that they often experience.

Time, valence, and imagination: a comparative study of thoughts in restricted and unrestricted mind wandering

William James' "stream of thought" is a key component of human cognition. Such thoughts arise in both restricted and unrestricted contexts, either with or without the presence of a secondary task. This study examines the similarities and differences in thoughts produced in these two contexts, which we call restricted and unrestricted mind wandering. Participants performed a mindfulness task representing restricted mind wandering and an unrestricted thought task where they spontaneously explored thoughts, reporting them as they arose. Participants then self-rated their thoughts based on valence, temporal orientation (past/present/future), and reality orientation (imaginary vs. real). Participants' emotional states were also evaluated using the Emotion Recall Task (ERT) and the PANAS questionnaire. Unrestricted mind wandering generated more thoughts, which were more positive and future-oriented than those in restricted mind wandering. Additionally, participants' thought valence correlated with their PANAS and ERT scores. Approximately 1 out of 4 thoughts in both restricted and unrestricted mind wandering were imaginary, with increased future orientation linked to more imaginative thought. Despite the statistical differences separating restricted and unrestricted thought, effect sizes were predominantly small, indicating that the thoughts arise during these two types of mind wandering are largely of the same kind.

Retuning of hippocampal representations during sleep

Hippocampal representations that underlie spatial memory undergo continuous refinement following formation1. Here, to track the spatial tuning of neurons dynamically during offline states, we used a new Bayesian learning approach based on the spike-triggered average decoded position in ensemble recordings from freely moving rats. Measuring these tunings, we found spatial representations within hippocampal sharp-wave ripples that were stable for hours during sleep and were strongly aligned with place fields initially observed during maze exploration. These representations were explained by a combination of factors that included preconfigured structure before maze exposure and representations that emerged during θ-oscillations and awake sharp-wave ripples while on the maze, revealing the contribution of these events in forming ensembles. Strikingly, the ripple representations during sleep predicted the future place fields of neurons during re-exposure to the maze, even when those fields deviated from previous place preferences. By contrast, we observed tunings with poor alignment to maze place fields during sleep and rest before maze exposure and in the later stages of sleep. In sum, the new decoding approach allowed us to infer and characterize the stability and retuning of place fields during offline periods, revealing the rapid emergence of representations following new exploration and the role of sleep in the representational dynamics of the hippocampus.

The Perceived Functions and Phenomenological Characteristics of Future Thinking and Clinically Significant Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

Current research indicates that anxiety disorders and elevated levels of trait anxiety are associated with biases and impairments when thinking of personally relevant future events, that is, future thinking. However, to date, little research has been conducted into how people with symptoms of clinical anxiety perceive the functions of future thinking. The current study presents a cross-sectional survey comparing individuals with elevated symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and related functional impact (N = 51, 43.1% female, Mage = 33.1, SD = 10.2) matched on age and gender with individuals with no clinically significant symptoms of GAD (N = 51, 43.1% female, Mage = 33.3, SD = 10.1) on self-reported functions of future thinking and a battery of items assessing the phenomenological characteristics. The results indicated various significant differences in the perceived functions of future thinking and its phenomenological characteristics in those with elevated GAD symptoms. Broadly, they indicate more frequent future thinking and more commonly for self-distraction or processing negatively valenced future events, and generally less adaptive mental representations that support current thinking on the psychopathological process of increased worry, anxious arousal and maladaptive cognition in clinical anxiety symptoms.

Isolating the effects of visual imagery on prospective memory

Two experiments investigated the role of visual imagery in prospective memory (PM). In experiment 1, 140 participants completed a general knowledge quiz which included a PM task of writing a letter "X" next to any questions that referred to space. Participants either visualised themselves performing this task, verbalised an implementation intention about the task, did both, or did neither. Performance on the PM task was enhanced in both conditions involving visual imagery but not by implementation intentions alone. In experiment 2, 120 participants imagined themselves writing a letter "X" next to questions about space, or in a bizarre imagery condition imagined themselves drawing an alien next to those questions. Relative to the control condition, PM was significantly enhanced when participants imagined writing a letter "X" next to the target questions, but not by the bizarre imagery task. The findings indicate that the robust effects of imagery observed in retrospective memory also extend to PM.

For better or for worse? Memories and mental health related to COVID-19 lockdowns in adolescents with Attention Deficit Disorders

PURPOSE

In adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD, ICD-10 defined) we examined self-reported well-being, depressive symptoms and autobiographical memories from the first COVID-19 lockdown in Denmark in comparison to adolescents without an ADHD diagnosis.

METHODS

Data from 16 adolescents with ADHD and 16 non-ADHD age and gender matched controls were collected between September 2020 and April 2021. Questionnaires included the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ), and an autobiographical memory survey assessing a lockdown memory, a memory not related to lockdown and a future projection. Mixed design ANOVAs were used to compare within subject differences in memory types across groups and independent sample t-tests were used to compare group differences.

RESULTS

Three adolescents with ADHD scored below the WHO-5 cut-off (< 50) and above the SMFQ cut-off (> 8) indicating risk of depression, compared to two in the control group. Both groups rated lockdown memories as less positive and more negative and reported feeling more sad and worried when reminiscing about lockdown experiences compared to 'other personal memories' and 'future projections'. Compared to the non-ADHD controls, adolescents with ADHD reported more sadness, t(30) = -0.2.45, p < .05 and worries t(30) = -3.84, p < .001 when reminiscing about the lockdown.

CONCLUSIONS

Even though there were no striking differences between groups in the assessments on risk of depression, the findings suggest that adolescents diagnosed with ADHD were more negatively affected when recalling memories about the lockdown compared to their peers.

Victim identifiability, number of victims, and unit asking in charitable giving

This study examines the identifiable victim effect (being more willing to help an identified victim than an unidentified), the singularity effect (i.e., being more willing to help a single identified victim than a group of identified victims), and unit asking (first asking donors for their willingness to donate for one unit and then asking for donations for multiple units) in charitable giving. In five studies (N = 7996), we vary the level of identifiability, singularity, and group size. We find that unit asking is making people more sensitive to the number of people in need. Further, while the level of identifiability influences affective reactions, this effect does not extend to donations and, thus, is not affected by unit asking. We do, however, find an "emotion asking effect" where asking donors to rate their affect before donating increase donation levels (compared to donors asked to rate affect after). Emotion asking was attenuated when combined with unit asking.

Can the prosocial benefits of episodic simulation transfer to different people and situational contexts?

Previous research has found that episodic simulation of events of helping others can effectively enhance intentions to help the same person involved and the identical situational context as the imagined scenarios. This 'prosocial simulation effect' is argued to reflect, at least in part, associative memory mechanisms whereby the simulation is reactivated when in the same situation as that imagined. However, to date, no study has examined systematically whether this 'prosocial simulation effect' can be transferred to response scenarios involving different people and/or situational contexts to the imagined scenarios, and if so, whether the degree of overlap with the imagined helping episode modulated the transfer effect. Across two experiments, we systematically varied the overlap of the simulated and response scenarios, both in terms of the persons in need and/or the situational contexts, and whether would influence the magnitude of prosocial simulation effect. Results from both experiments showed that the prosocial simulation effect can be transferred to response scenarios involving different people and situational contexts to the simulated scenarios. However, this finding was primarily driven by response scenarios that had a high degree of overlap to the simulated scenarios. The application of our findings to the practical implementation of simulation to promote prosociality in the real world is discussed.

Causal role of the angular gyrus in insight-driven memory reconfiguration

Maintaining an accurate model of the world relies on our ability to update memory representations in light of new information. Previous research on the integration of new information into memory mainly focused on the hippocampus. Here, we hypothesized that the angular gyrus, known to be involved in episodic memory and imagination, plays a pivotal role in the insight-driven reconfiguration of memory representations. To test this hypothesis, participants received continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left angular gyrus or sham stimulation before gaining insight into the relationship between previously separate life-like animated events in a narrative-insight task. During this task, participants also underwent EEG recording and their memory for linked and non-linked events was assessed shortly thereafter. Our results show that cTBS to the angular gyrus decreased memory for the linking events and reduced the memory advantage for linked relative to non-linked events. At the neural level, cTBS targeting the angular gyrus reduced centro-temporal coupling with frontal regions and abolished insight-induced neural representational changes for events linked via imagination, indicating impaired memory reconfiguration. Further, the cTBS group showed representational changes for non-linked events that resembled the patterns observed in the sham group for the linked events, suggesting failed pruning of the narrative in memory. Together, our findings demonstrate a causal role of the left angular gyrus in insight-related memory reconfigurations.

Positive mental imagery and mental health amongst university students in Pakistan

Mental health problems amongst university students pose a major public health challenge, and this is particularly the case in Pakistan. Alongside broader societal and cultural pressures, cognitive factors likely also play a role in the development of and resilience to mental health problems and may provide a feasible target for interventions. The current study built on previous research in primarily European samples investigating the relationship between one cognitive factor, positive future-oriented mental imagery, and mental health, extending this to a sample of university students in Pakistan (N = 1838). In a cross-sectional design, higher vividness of positive future-oriented mental imagery was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of positive mental health amongst participants completing questionnaire measures on paper (N = 1430) or online (N = 408). In the sample completing the measures on paper, these relationships remained statistically significant even when controlling for socio-demographic and mental health-related variables. The results provide a foundation for further investigating positive mental imagery as a potential mechanism of mental health and intervention target amongst university students in Pakistan.

The mental simulation of state/psychological stimuli in anxiety disorders: A 3T fMRI study

Mental imagery plays an important role in cognitive and emotional processes, therefore it might contribute to psychopathology in affective disorders. Distressive intrusive imagery is a core feature of anxiety disorders, but the underlying neurobiology remains unexplored. Here, we examined the functional brain mechanisms involved in state/psychological imagery in individuals with anxiety disorders. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to assess the brain circuits involved in state/psychological (vs. action) imagery controlled by letter detection on the same stimuli in 33 individuals with anxiety disorders relative to 33 healthy controls. Patients were faster than controls in processing state/psychological stimuli and in general in the imagery task. We found that the left superior frontal gyrus was differentially activated by the state/psychological (vs. action) imagery (vs. letter detection) in the anxious individuals vs. healthy controls. We suggest that this area, which is involved in processing of state/psychological semantic information, appears deregulated during imagery in subjects with anxiety disorders. Our study provided the first evidence of both behavioral and brain functional alterations during imagery, highlighting a key role of the left superior frontal gyrus.

The generative grammar of the brain: a critique of internally generated representations

The past decade of progress in neurobiology has uncovered important organizational principles for network preconfiguration and neuronal selection that suggest a generative grammar exists in the brain. In this Perspective, I discuss the competence of the hippocampal neural network to generically express temporally compressed sequences of neuronal firing that represent novel experiences, which is envisioned as a form of generative neural syntax supporting a neurobiological perspective on brain function. I compare this neural competence with the hippocampal network performance that represents specific experiences with higher fidelity after new learning during replay, which is envisioned as a form of neural semantic that supports a complementary neuropsychological perspective. I also demonstrate how the syntax of network competence emerges a priori during early postnatal life and is followed by the later development of network performance that enables rapid encoding and memory consolidation. Thus, I propose that this generative grammar of the brain is essential for internally generated representations, which are crucial for the cognitive processes underlying learning and memory, prospection, and inference, which ultimately underlie our reason and representation of the world.

Grandiose narcissism influences the phenomenology of remembered past and imagined future events

Little empirical work has examined future thinking in narcissistic grandiosity. We here extend prior work finding that people scoring high in grandiosity have self-bolstering tendencies in remembering past events, and we consider whether these tendencies extend to imagining future events. Across an initial study (N = 112) and replication (N = 169), participants wrote about remembered past events and imagined future events in which they embodied or would embody either positive or negative traits. Participants then rated those events on several subjective measures. We find that people scoring higher in grandiosity remember past events in which they embody positive traits with greater detail and ease than past events in which they embody negative traits. These same effects persist when people scoring high in grandiosity imagine possible events in their future. Those scoring higher in grandiosity endorse thinking about positive events in their past and future more frequently than negative events, and they judge positive future events as more plausible than negative future events. These tendencies did not extend to objective detail provided in their written narratives about these events. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that grandiosity is associated with self-bolstering tendencies in both remembering the past and imagining the future.

Physiological and subjective arousal to prospective mental imagery: A mechanism for behavioral change?

Emotional prospective mental imagery, in which we simulate possible future events within our minds, have a pronounced impact on behavior. For example, repeated engagement in positive prospective imagery can lead to behavioral activation, while negative prospective imagery can lead to catastrophizing and avoidance. Physiological arousal boosts memory consolidation, creating emotional memories. Thus, if emotional prospective imagery produces an arousal response, the memory consolidation of these simulations of the future may be boosted, offering a possible underlying mechanism for the impact of emotional prospective imagery on behavior. In order to examine the feasibility of arousal as a possible mechanism behind the impact of emotional prospective imagery on behavior, sixty participants produced autobiographical prospective imagery of 30 scenes (10 positive, 10 neutral, and 10 negative), during which arousal responses (skin conductance) were measured, and ratings for subjective arousal, valence, and imagery vividness were collected. Moreover, because vividness of prospective imagery has been related to anxiety and depression, the study examined this relation also for event-related autobiographical prospective imagery. The results showed that emotional prospective imagery were associated with higher subjective arousal ratings as compared to neutral imagery. Physiological arousal responses showed a similar pattern, but further data is needed for a firm conclusion. Nevertheless, arousal-boosted consolidation remains a possible contributing mechanism for the impact of emotional prospective imagery on behavior. Moreover, results suggest both anxiety and depression may entail a reduced ability to invent prospective life situations. However, only anxiety was associated with less vivid imaginations, unless the imaginations were of negative content. Hence, anxious individuals may experience negative prospective imagery more vividly than imagery with neutral and positive content.

Phenomenological characteristics of autobiographical future thinking in nurses with burnout: a case-control study

Objective

Nurses constitute the largest group of healthcare workers worldwide, and job burnout is very common among them. This study aims to explore abnormal future thinking in nurses with burnout. Additionally, the study investigates whether these manifestations worsen as burnout progresses.

Methods

The study was conducted in inpatient ward nurses at a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou, China. In the first phase, two group of nurses were recruited: nurses with burnout (N = 70) and nurses without burnout (N = 70). In the second phase, three groups were recruited according to the burnout levels: mild burnout (N = 43), moderate burnout (N = 42) and severe burnout (N = 43). Data on job burnout were obtained using the Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory. The Sentence Completion for Events in the Future Test (SCEFT) was employed to measure the content of future thinking, which was evaluated by two raters in terms of the specificity, emotional valence, and concrete content of the imagined future events. The proportions of specific types of events among all the produced events were calculated.

Results

The results revealed that nurses with burnout, compared to nurses without burnout, imagined fewer specific future events, positive events, and events related to relationships and achievement. They also had more omissions. As the level of burnout increased, their impairment in future thinking worsened. Furthermore, the results also revealed that the scores of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment had significant correlations with the proportions of positive events and events related to relationships and achievement/mastery in nurses' future thinking content.

Conclusion

The future thinking ability of nurses with burnout was impaired, and this impairment worsened as the symptoms of burnout progressed. The findings of the present study have important implications for nurse caring and advocate effective interventions targeting positive future thinking to mitigate nurses' burnout.

Imagining emotional future events in PTSD: clinical and neurocognitive correlates

Emotional future thinking serves important functions related to goal pursuit and emotion regulation but has been scantly studied in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study sought to characterize emotional future thinking in PTSD and to identify clinical and neurocognitive profiles associated with potential alterations in the level of detail in narratives of imagined future events. Fifty-eight, trauma-exposed, war-zone veterans, who were classified into current PTSD, past PTSD, and no-PTSD groups, were asked to vividly imagine future events in response to positive and negative cue words occurring in the near and distant future. These narratives were scored for internal (i.e., pertaining to the main event) and external (i.e., tangential to the main event) details. Participants also performed neurocognitive tasks of generative ability, working memory, and relational verbal memory. Linear mixed modeling revealed that the current and past PTSD groups generated fewer internal details than the no-PTSD group across positive and negative cue words and across temporal proximity. Partial least squares analysis revealed that symptom severity for all PTSD clusters was inversely associated with production of internal details, albeit with the association relatively weaker for intrusion symptoms. Among the neurocognitive tasks, only relational verbal memory was associated with production of internal details. These findings suggest, as predicted, that functional avoidance may underlie reduced detail generation but also point to potential additional mechanisms to be further investigated. That future event simulation remains overgeneral even when PTSD symptoms abate highlights the importance of addressing alterations in future thinking in this population.

Envisioning the future: An ALE meta-analysis on neural correlates of future thinking, prospective memory and delay discounting

Our representations of the future are processed in the service of several different cognitive functions, including episodic future thinking, prospective memory, and temporal discounting. The present meta-analysis used the Activation Likelihood Estimation method to understand whether there is a core network underlying future-oriented cognition and to identify the specific brain regions that support future-related processes in each function. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a total of 24, 19, and 27 neuroimaging studies were included for future thinking, prospective memory, and temporal discounting, respectively. Results showed that there is no specific region or network for the future. Instead, the 'future' seems to be represented on an anterior-posterior tangibility gradient, based on the level of abstractness/concreteness of the simulated scenario. Additionally, future-oriented cognition is mediated by two distinct networks: the Default Network and the Salience Network. The Default Network is mainly active in supporting future thinking, whereas the Salience Network is primarily involved in prospective memory and delay discounting.

An Asymmetric Effect: Physical and Simulated Confederate's Mere Presence Induce a Preference for Deontological Over Utilitarian Judgment

People may behave differently in a shared physical context due to the mere presence of others. The study examined whether individual moral judgments were subject to the confederate's presence. Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis that the confederate's presence, relative to the control group, increased deontological judgment, disapproving of sacrificing a person's lifetime or interest for preserving the greater good of others. Experiment 2 investigated whether the results extend to mental space. The result revealed that simulating a positive interaction with the confederate significantly increased the preference for deontological judgments relative to the control group. However, the effect disappeared if the participants were required to simulate only the person from the scenario that did not include any additional background contexts. These results demonstrated that the confederate's physical presence and simulated confederate's presence always preferred deontological judgments over utilitarian judgments. The findings suggested that the asymmetric moral effect occurred in the physical realm and mental space.

Visualizing risky situations induces a stronger neural response in brain areas associated with mental imagery and emotions than visualizing non-risky situations

In an fMRI study, we tested the prediction that visualizing risky situations induces a stronger neural response in brain areas associated with mental imagery and emotions than visualizing non-risky and more positive situations. We assumed that processing mental images that allow for "trying-out" the future has greater adaptive importance for risky than non-risky situations, because the former can generate severe negative outcomes. We identified several brain regions that were activated when participants produced images of risky situations and these regions overlap with brain areas engaged in visual, speech, and movement imagery. We also found that producing images of risky situations, in contrast to non-risky situations, was associated with increased neural activation in the insular cortex and cerebellum-the regions involved, among other functions, in emotional processing. Finally, we observed an increased BOLD signal in the cingulate gyrus associated with reward-based decision making and monitoring of decision outcomes. In summary, risky situations increased neural activation in brain areas involved in mental imagery, emotional processing, and decision making. These findings imply that the evaluation of everyday risky situations may be driven by emotional responses that result from mental imagery.

Different topological patterns in structural covariance networks between high and low delay discounters

Introduction

People prefer immediate over future rewards because they discount the latter's value (a phenomenon termed "delay discounting," used as an index of impulsivity). However, little is known about how the preferences are implemented in brain in terms of the coordinated pattern of large-scale structural brain networks.

Methods

To examine this question, we classified high discounting group (HDG) and low discounting group (LDG) in young adults by assessing their propensity for intertemporal choice. We compared global and regional topological properties in gray matter volume-based structural covariance networks between two groups using graph theoretical analysis.

Results

HDG had less clustering coefficient and characteristic path length over the wide sparsity range than LDG, indicating low network segregation and high integration. In addition, the degree of small-worldness was more significant in HDG. Locally, HDG showed less betweenness centrality (BC) in the parahippocampal gyrus and amygdala than LDG.

Discussion

These findings suggest the involvement of structural covariance network topology on impulsive choice, measured by delay discounting, and extend our understanding of how impulsive choice is associated with brain morphological features.

Thinking about the consequences: The detrimental role of future thinking on intrapersonal problem-solving in depression

Despite the fact that depressed individuals encounter a multitude of social problems in daily life, research on social problem-solving has largely been dominated by research on interpersonal problems and there is a paucity of research on intrapersonal problems. Intrapersonal problems are linked to one's subjective psychological functioning and involve managing one's own feelings and emotions pertaining to the self. Given that depressed individuals exhibit impaired emotion regulation, it is possible that their ability to solve intrapersonal problems may be impaired, especially in relation to future thinking. The aim of this study was to investigate whether future thinking, in the form of thinking about the consequences of a problem being resolved or remaining unresolved has an impact on intrapersonal problem-solving in depression. Forty-five depressed and fifty-four non-depressed participants completed a modified version of the means end problem-solving task (MEPS). In the task, participants were presented with a series of intrapersonal problems and were asked to generate consequences of the problems being resolved or remaining unresolved. Participants were then presented with a positive resolution to each of the problems and were asked to solve the problem to achieve the positive resolution. Following a delay, participants were asked to recall all of the consequences initially generated. Overall, depressed individuals generated fewer-relevant means and less effective solutions to problems than non-depressed participants. Depressed individuals also demonstrated impaired intrapersonal problem-solving following the generation of resolved and unresolved consequences, compared to a baseline condition, where no consequences were generated. These findings suggest that future thinking impairs intrapersonal problem-solving and indicates that a more nuanced approach to future thinking and social problem-solving in depression is needed across different real-life problem-solving contexts.

Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

In a complex world, we are constantly faced with environmental stimuli that shape our moment-to-moment experiences. But just as rich and complex as the external world is the internal milieu-our imagination. Imagination offers a powerful vehicle for playing out hypothetical experiences in the mind's eye. It allows us to mentally time travel to behold what the future might bring, including our greatest desires or fears. Indeed, imagined experiences tend to be emotion-laden. How and why are humans capable of this remarkable feat? Based on psychological findings, we highlight the importance of imagination for emotional aspects of cognition and behavior, namely in the generation and regulation of emotions. Based on recent cognitive neuroscience work, we identify putative neural networks that are most critical for emotional imagination, with a major focus on the default mode network. Finally, we briefly highlight the possible functional implications of individual differences in imagination. Overall, we hope to address why humans have the capacity to simulate hypothetical emotional experiences and how this ability can be harnessed in adaptive (and sometimes maladaptive) ways. We end by discussing open questions.

Imagine All the People: A Guided Internet-Based Imagery Training to Increase Assertiveness among University Students-Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

The importance of communication skills for well-being and self-realization is widely accepted. Despite that, research on assertiveness and assertiveness training has declined significantly in recent decades. Consequently, traditional training does not consider the most recent novel technologies used to spread psychological interventions. This study proposes the development of ComunicaBene: a guided Internet-based imagery intervention to promote assertiveness. Moreover, it describes the study protocol for a randomized control trial to investigate the intervention's efficacy and acceptability. Participants will be randomly assigned to an experimental (ComunicaBene) or waitlist control condition. ComunicaBene consists of different online training modules corresponding to three phases: psychoeducation, imaginative exposure, and in vivo-exposure. Each module provides participants with theoretical and practical content about needs, emotions, communication style, and assertiveness. Moreover, during the program, every student is supervised by a Tutor. Participants in the control condition will be included in a waiting list. Primary and secondary outcomes will include changes in assertiveness, well-being, emotional awareness, worry, and rumination. Outcomes will be assessed at pre- and post-intervention, and via a 6-month follow-up. We expect that the results will support the efficacy of ComunicaBene as an innovative, scalable, affordable, and acceptable intervention to spread assertive training through the Internet and among a broad population.

A causal link between mental imagery and affect-laden perception of climate change related risks

Previous studies have shed light on the importance of affect in risk perception and the role of mental imagery in generating affect. In the current study, we explore the causal relationship between mental imagery, affect, and risk perception by systematically varying the level of mental imagery in three levels (i.e., enhanced, spontaneous, or prevented). In light of the increasing environmental risk of adverse events caused by climate change, we operationalize risk as participants' perceived risk of climate change. One-thousand-fifty-five participants were recruited online and randomized to one of three levels of mental imagery. As predicted, we found a causal link between the level of mental imagery, affective experience, and perceived risk of climate change, in that enhanced mental imagery caused a larger decrease in positive affective valence and a larger increase in perceived risk of climate change. We argue that mental imagery enhances the negative affect associated with the risk event by creating a perceptual experience that mimics seeing the environmental risk events.

A systematic review of the impact of future-oriented thinking on academic outcomes

Future-oriented thought is a broad construct that characterize the ability to generate mental representations of the future and project oneself into a variety of hypothetical states. It is well established that the degree to which one is focused more on the past, present, or future has a variety of implications on psychological functioning. This study focuses on the relationship between future-oriented thought and academic performance of students. To bridge this gap, we conducted the first systematic review investigating the benefit of future-oriented thought on promoting positive outcomes in academic settings. Our systematic review comprised 21 studies (k = 21). Results identified a clear relationship between future-oriented thought and positive outcomes in academic settings. Furthermore, our systematic review reveals important relationships between future-oriented thought and academic engagement, as well as future-oriented thought and academic performance. Our findings suggest that those who are more future-oriented demonstrate higher levels of academic engagement compared to those who were less future-oriented. Our findings suggest that probing and guiding students toward a future goal may increase their academic engagement and performance.

Self-initiating and applying episodic foresight in middle childhood

This study provides an important extension to the growing literature on prospection in children by providing the first test of whether one's ability to engage in the functional (as opposed to the purely phenomenological) aspect of episodic foresight improves across middle childhood. Of the various forms of prospection, episodic foresight has been proposed to be one of the most flexible and functionally powerful, defined as the ability to not only imagine future events (simulative aspect) but also use those imaginings to guide behavior in the present (functional aspect). The current study tested 80 typically developing children aged 8 to 12 years using an extensive cognitive battery comprising Virtual Week Foresight, the Autobiographical Interview, and a series of crystallized and fluid intelligence measures. Whereas data indicated age-related improvements in detecting future-oriented problems and taking steps in the present in service of solving these, all children in this age bracket demonstrated a similar capacity for problem resolution (i.e., the ability to subsequently solve successfully identified problems). Results also revealed the importance of broader crystallized and fluid intelligence, but not episodic memory or episodic future thinking, in engaging in this capacity. Research is now required to understand the real-life consequences of episodic foresight during this developmental period as well as the ways in which parents and teachers can help to foster this capacity and consequently help to support children's growing desire for independence during this time.

A tetrahedral model of autobiographical memory research design

The field of autobiographical memory can do more to be representative of global populations experiencing and recollecting diverse events across the lifespan. To inspire such work, I present a general model for designing autobiographical memory studies. The tetrahedral model (based on Jenkins, 1979) has at its vertices context (e.g., the situated environment, activated schema, or functional goal), outcomes (e.g., the content and phenomenology of remembering), participants (e.g., the demographic characteristics and traits of the individual), and events (e.g., the lived experiences that comprise an individual's autobiography). Further, the area of the base of the pyramid can represent the time frame under investigation (e.g., the wider the distance, the greater the delay between an experience and its retrieval) and the height of the pyramid can represent the sample size (e.g., nearly flat for a case study, increasingly taller for larger groups) being studied. After applying the model to describe how typical autobiographical memory research is conducted (and briefly identifying the limitations therein), representative models of particularly promising areas of research are highlighted. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory.

The impact of group identity on the interaction between collective memory and collective future thinking negativity: Evidence from a Turkish sample

Although several studies have addressed the relationship between memories and future projections regarding personal events, only a few studies exist on collective past and future events, almost all with North American samples. In two studies with Turkish samples, we investigated the relationship between sociopolitical identity and collective past and future representations. In Study 1, we compared the most important past and future collective events generated by voters of the ruling and the main opposition parties. Participants reported the two most important public events in the last 70 years and two in the next 70 years for Turkey, and rated events' valence, centrality, and transitional impact. Past events were dominated by national political events whereas future events' themes were more varied. Past events were also more negative than future events, with the negativity of future events decreasing as their temporal distance from the present increased. Opposition voters rated both the past and the future events more negatively than ruling party voters. In Study 2, we tested whether the negativity for future events may be due to perceived sociopolitical status of ruling party voters. Participants reported events from Turkey's future and provided ratings of status and privilege. We replicated the reduced negativity of distant compared to near future projections, but subjective sense of privilege was not related to events' valence. Overall, we demonstrated that in highly polarized societies, sociopolitical identity can impact the perceived valence of collective mental time travel outputs, diverging from findings of similar responses among Democrats and Republicans in the USA context.

The Temporal Focus of Mind-Wandering and Chinese Adolescents' Well-Being

The relationships between the temporal focus of mind-wandering (i.e., past-oriented and future-oriented mind-wandering) and well-being are important issues for adolescents, which may have significant implications on their well-being and self-identity development. However, few studies tested the temporal focus of mind-wandering and its emotional consequences in adolescents. In the present study, we conducted two studies using self-reported questionnaires from large sample sets to examine the relationships between the temporal focus of mind-wandering and hedonic (pleasure attainment) and eudaimonic (meaning pursuing) well-being among Chinese adolescents. Study 1 preliminarily tested the relationships between the temporal focus of mind-wandering and hedonic well-being among adolescents (n = 1273) suggesting that both past-oriented mind-wandering (PMW) and future-oriented mind-wandering (FMW) were positively correlated with hedonic well-being. Study 2 used a new sample (n = 986) and included another aspect of well-being (i.e., eudaimonic well-being), showing that PMW and FMW were both positively correlated with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, self-reflection mediated the relationships between FMW and hedonic/eudaimonic well-being, whereas self-reflection did not act as a mediator in the relationships between PMW and well-being. The present findings indicated that both PMW and FMW are beneficial for Chinese adolescents' well-being, and emphasized the mediating role of self-reflection in the relationships between FMW and well-being.

Why people hesitate to help: Neural correlates of the counter-dynamics of altruistic helping and individual differences in daily helping tendencies

Recent psychological and neuroimaging studies on altruism–egoism dilemmas have promoted our understanding of the processes underlying altruistic motivation; however, little attention has been paid to the egoistic counter-dynamics that prompt hesitancy to help. These counter-dynamics may involve the construction of reasons not to help based on contextual elaboration and explain individual differences in the tendency to help others in daily life. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we explored the neural correlates of altruism–egoism dilemmas during empathy-driven helping decisions, with particular attention to the counter-dynamics related to individual helping tendency traits. We used two context-rich helping decision scenarios. In the empathy dilemma (Emp) scenario, empathy-driven motivation to help a poor person was associated with a cost, whereas in the economic-dilemma (Eco) scenario, self-beneficial motivation to help a non-poor person was associated with a cost. Our results showed activation of the right anterior prefrontal cortices, supramarginal gyrus, and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) for the altruism–egoism dilemma (i.e., Emp &gt; Eco). A significant negative effect of the helping tendency trait score was observed on PCC activation; interestingly, this effect was observed for both Emp and Eco dilemmas. The identified neural correlates of altruism–egoism dilemmas appear to be related to the construction of decision reasons based on contextual elaboration in naturalistic situations. In contrast to the classical view, our results suggest a two-stage model that includes an altruistic helping decision followed by counter-dynamics to determine the individual helping tendency.

Parkinson's disease disrupts the ability to initiate and apply episodic foresight

OBJECTIVE

While Parkinson's disease is associated with impairments in many aspects of prospective cognition, no study to date has tested whether these difficulties extend to problems using episodic foresight to guide future-directed behavior. To provide the first examination of whether people with Parkinson's disease are impaired in their capacity to initiate and apply episodic foresight.

METHOD

People with Parkinson's disease (n = 42), and a demographically matched neurotypical comparison group (n = 42) completed a validated behavioral assessment that met strict criteria for assessing episodic foresight (Virtual Week-Foresight), as well as a broader neurocognitive and clinical test battery.

RESULTS

People with Parkinson's disease were significantly less likely than the comparison group to acquire items that would later allow a problem to be solved and were also less likely to subsequently use these items for problem resolution. These deficits were largely unrelated to performance on other cognitive measures or clinical characteristics of the disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

The ability to engage in episodic foresight in an adaptive way is compromised in Parkinson's disease. This appears to be a stable feature of the disorder, and one that is distinct from other clinical symptoms and neurocognitive deficits. It is now critical to establish exactly why these difficulties exist and how they impact on real-life functional capacity.

Decoding individual differences in expressing and suppressing anger from structural brain networks: A supervised machine learning approach

Anger can be broken down into different elements: a transitory state (state anger), a stable personality feature (trait anger), a tendency to express it (anger-out), or to suppress it (anger-in), and the ability to regulate it (anger control). These elements are characterized by individual differences that vary across a continuum. Among them, the abilities to express and suppress anger are of particular relevance as they determine outcomes and enable successful anger management in daily situations. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that anger suppression and expression can be decoded by patterns of grey matter of specific well-known brain networks. To this aim, a supervised machine learning technique, known as Kernel Ridge Regression, was used to predict anger expression and suppression scores of 212 healthy subjects from the grey matter concentration. Results show that individual differences in anger suppression were predicted by two grey matter patterns associated with the Default-Mode Network and the Salience Network. Additionally, individual differences in anger expression were predicted by a circuit mainly involving subcortical and fronto-temporal regions when considering whole brain grey matter features. These results expand previous findings regarding the neural bases of anger by showing that individual differences in specific anger-related components can be predicted by the grey matter features of specific networks.

The effects of left dorsolateral prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on episodic future thinking following acute psychosocial stress

INTRODUCTION

Research on stress-related disorders and brain imaging suggests that (acute) stress might impact the capacity to mentally simulate specific episodic future events (EFT) through the effects of cortisol on brain regions supporting this cognitive function, such as the prefrontal cortices. This study aims to examine the mechanisms underlying this link, using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

METHODS

60 healthy participants were subjected to the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST), followed by either active or sham tDCS. After stimulation, the EFT task was administered. Salivary cortisol was measured throughout the protocol.

RESULTS

Higher cortisol AUCi values were linked to less specific episodic future thoughts. Moreover, active tDCS enhanced EFT specificity irrespective of cortisol, especially in high trait ruminators. We did not observe an effect from active tDCS on cortisol AUCi, and equally there was no interaction effect between cortisol AUCi and stimulation condition predictive for EFT specificity.

CONCLUSION

Although we did not find evidence for the effects of tDCS on the HPA-system, our data reveal a crucial link between two critical predictors of mental health for the first time, and provide a solution to help rehabilitate EFT deficits.Trial registration: Netherlands National Trial Register identifier: ntr004..

Subjective and objective sleep quality does not predict behavioural episodic foresight in younger or older adults

Episodic foresight refers to one's capacity to use imagined scenarios to guide future-directed behaviors. It is important in facilitating complex activities of daily living, such as managing finances. Broader literature shows that older adults perform more poorly on tests of episodic foresight relative to their younger counterparts. At the same time, age-related changes in sleep often contribute to age-related decline in other cognitive abilities known to support episodic foresight, such as memory. No study to date has tested whether sleep quality is associated with episodic foresight when it is measured behaviorally; or whether this relationship is moderated by age. To address this, in the present study healthy younger (n = 39) and older (n = 41) adults were asked to wear an actigraphy watch and self-report their sleep quality for seven nights. Participants then completed the virtual-week foresight task-a behavioral assessment of episodic foresight. Neither objective or subjective sleep quality predicted episodic foresight outcomes, and this was not moderated by age group. Bayesian analyses provided evidence in favour of the null hypotheses. These results suggest that sleep quality (at least in healthy adult populations) may not be linked to episodic foresight.

Simulating the situated-self drives hippocampo-cortical engagement during inner narration of events

We often use inner narration when thinking about past and future events. The present paradigm explicitly addresses the influence of the language used in inner narration on the hippocampus-dependent event construction process. We assessed the language context effect during the inner narration of different event types: past, future, daydream, and self-unrelated fictitious events. The language context was assessed via a fluent bilingual population who used inner narration, either in their first language (L1) or second language (L2). Not all inner narration of events elicited hippocampo-cortical activity. In fact, only the angular gyrus and precuneus-retrosplenial cortex were activated by inner narration across all event types. More precisely, only inner narration of events which entailed the simulation of bodily self-location in space (whether or not they were time-marked: past, future, daydream) depended on the hippocampo-cortical system, while inner narration of events that did not entail bodily self-location (self-unrelated fictitious) did not. The language context of the narration influenced the bilinguals' hippocampo-cortical system by enhancing the co-activation of semantic areas with the hippocampus for inner narration of events in the L2. Overall, this study highlights 2 important characteristics of hippocampo-cortical-dependent inner narration of events: The core episodic hippocampal system is activated for inner narration of events simulating self-location in space (regardless of time-marking), and the inner language used for narration (L1 or L2) mediates hippocampal functional connectivity.

Future orientation and perceived employability of chinese undergraduates: a moderated mediation model

Although scholars and practitioners have highlighted the significance of students' attitudes for their future employment, few empirical examinations have attempted to determine the potential association between students' future orientation and their perceived employability. Thus, drawing on career construction theory, we test the positive effect of students' future orientation on their perceived employability by exploring the mediator of problem-based learning and the moderators of job market knowledge and proactive personality. Collecting our data via a time-lagged design (N = 368), we have found that the positive association between future orientation and employability is mediated by problem-based learning. Our moderation analyses further revealed that job market knowledge positively moderates the relationship between future orientation and problem-based learning and that students' proactive personality positively moderates the relationship between problem-based learning and perceived employability.

The reciprocal relationship between episodic memory and future thinking: How the outcome of predictions is subsequently remembered

Evidence suggests that memory is involved in making simulations and predictions about the future (i.e., future thinking), but less work has examined how the outcome of those predictions (whether events play out as predicted or expected) subsequently affects episodic memory. In this investigation, we examine whether memory is better for outcomes that are consistent with predictions, or whether memory is enhanced for outcomes that are inconsistent with predictions, after the predicted event occurs. In this experiment, participants learned a core trait associated with social targets (e.g., high in extroversion), before making predictions about behaviors targets would perform. Participants then were shown behaviors the social targets actually performed (i.e., prediction outcome), which was either consistent or inconsistent with predictions. After that, participants completed a memory test (recognition; recall) for the prediction outcomes. For recognition, the results revealed better memory for outcomes that were consistent with traits associated with targets (i.e., trait-consistent outcomes), compared to outcomes that were inconsistent (i.e., trait-inconsistent outcomes). Finding a memory advantage for trait-consistent outcomes suggests that outcomes that are in line with the contents of memory (e.g., what one knows; schemas) are more readily remembered than those that are inconsistent with memory, which may reflect an adaptive memory process. For recall, memory did not differ between trait-consistent and trait-inconsistent outcomes. Altogether, the results of this experiment advance understanding of the reciprocal relationship between episodic memory and future thinking and show that outcome of predictions has an influence on subsequent episodic memory, at least as measured by recognition.

Self-Enhancement and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex: The Convergence of Clinical and Experimental Findings

Self-enhancement (SE) is often overlooked as a fundamental cognitive ability mediated via the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC). Here, we present research that establishes the relationship between the PFC, SE, and the potential evolved beneficial mechanisms. Specifically, we believe there is now enough evidence to speculate that SE exists to provide significant benefits and should be considered a normal aspect of the self. Whatever the metabolic or social cost, the upside of SE is great enough that it is a core and fundamental psychological construct. Furthermore, though entirely theoretical, we suggest that a critical reason the PFC has evolved so significantly in Homo sapiens is to, in part, sustain SE. We, therefore, elaborate on its proximate and ultimate mechanisms.

Delay discounting and alcohol consumption correlate with dorsal anterior insula activation during choice in nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers

BACKGROUND

The anterior insular cortex (AIC), a prominent salience network node, integrates interoceptive information and emotional states into decision making. While AIC activation during delay discounting (DD) in alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been previously reported, the associations between AIC activation, impulsive choice, alcohol consumption, and connectivity remain unknown. We therefore tested AIC brain responses during DD in heavy drinkers and their association with DD performance, alcohol drinking, and task-based connectivity.

METHODS

Twenty-nine heavy drinkers (12 females; mean (SD) age=31.5 ± 6.1 years; mean (SD)=40.8 ± 23.4 drinks/week) completed a DD task during functional MRI. Regions activated during DD decision making were tested for correlation with DD behavior and alcohol drinking. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) models assessed the task-dependent functional connectivity (FC) of activation during choice.

RESULTS

Delay discounting choice activated bilateral anterior insular cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and left precentral gyrus. Right dorsal (d) AIC activation during choice negatively correlated withdiscounting of delayed rewards and alcohol consumption. PPI analysis revealed FC of the right dAIC to both the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices-key nodes in the midline default mode network.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater dAIC involvement in intertemporal choice may confer more adaptive behavior (lower impulsivity and alcohol consumption). Moreover, salience network processes governing discounting may require midline default mode (precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex) recruitment. These findings supporta key adaptive role for right dAIC in decision making involving future rewards and risky drinking.

Eudaimonia in Crisis: How Ethical Purpose Finding Transforms Crisis

In a fast-paced and interconnected global economy, a crisis is an eventuality for most organizations. Leading during a crisis can be particularly challenging because a crisis can disrupt a firm’s purpose, undermine the motivation of employees, and can encourage unethical behavior. In this article, I focus on managing a crisis of purpose. I articulate a framework that elaborates ways in which leaders find and pursue ethical purposes during times of crisis and why these specific purposes motivate employees and encourage organizational resilience. Drawing on modern scholars’ theory of eudaimonia, I propose that leaders can find ethical purposes by framing crisis as opportunities for growth, authenticity, meaning and excellence. When leaders establish and pursue ethical purposes, they can motivate individuals and promote organizational resilience.

Episodic representation: A mental models account

This paper offers a modeling account of episodic representation. I argue that the episodic system constructs mental models: representations that preserve the spatiotemporal structure of represented domains. In prototypical cases, these domains are events: occurrences taken by subjects to have characteristic structures, dynamics and relatively determinate beginnings and ends. Due to their simplicity and manipulability, mental event models can be used in a variety of cognitive contexts: in remembering the personal past, but also in future-oriented and counterfactual imagination. As structural representations, they allow surrogative reasoning, supporting inferences about their constituents which can be used in reasoning about the represented events.

The dual threat of COVID-19 to health and job security - Exploring the role of mindfulness in sustaining frontline employee-related outcomes

Navigating the increasingly uncertain business world requires organizations and employees to be highly adaptive to threats and changes. During COVID-19, the dual threats to health and job security have been especially salient for frontline employees. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we investigated individual and organizational mindfulness as valuable resources, which influence employee outcomes of preventative behaviors, emotional exhaustion, and job performance both directly, and indirectly through threat appraisals. We find that individual and organizational mindfulness influence threat appraisals in a "counterbalanced manner": individual mindfulness decreases threat appraisals, while organizational mindfulness heightens the perceived threat of contracting COVID-19. The threat to health further serves as a double-edged sword, predicting both emotional exhaustion and preventative behaviors, while job insecurity impairs all employee outcomes. Based on these findings, we provide key implications for research and practice, and future research directions.

The homeless mind in a mobile world: An autoethnographic approach on cognitive immobility in international migration

The migration phenomenon, in which the mind travels ahead of the body, especially among would-be travellers, has received scholarly attention within migration studies. Research in this area has not unpacked the cognitive migration experiences of those who have already moved. This autoethnographic article explores the feelings, thoughts and experiences of an individual living abroad in the United Kingdom but cognitively imprisoned at his ancestral home in Igbo land. It draws on the concept of cognitive migration and the author’s own experiences and feelings to introduce and explain the phenomenon of cognitive immobility, which exemplifies the dialectical conflict between the aspirations of longing for and emotions of belonging to a place against a simultaneous desire to remain distant from it. This article advocates the recognition of this cognitive experience of being trapped in place while mobilised in-person elsewhere in migration studies, providing a lens to view such experiences that have erstwhile received inadequate attention. This article contributes to the growing body of knowledge in relation to cognitive migration processes and experiences of those contemplating or participating in human mobility.