Time Is Not Space: Core Computations and Domain-Specific Networks for Mental Travels.

Abstract

As humans, we can consciously imagine ourselves at a different time (mental time travel) or at a different place (mental space navigation). Are such abilities domain-general, or are the temporal and spatial dimensions of our conscious experience separable? Here, we tested the hypothesis that mental time travel and mental space navigation required the egocentric remapping of events, including the estimation of their distances to the self. We report that, although both remapping and distance computation are foundational for the processing of the temporal and spatial dimensions of our conscious experience, their neuroanatomical implementations were clearly dissociable and engaged distinct parietal and parietofrontal networks for mental space navigation and mental time travel, respectively.