Counterfactual Thinking and the Episodic System

When something bad happens, we often think how things could have turned out differently (e.g., “If I had set my alarm, I would not have missed my appointment.”). Imagining an alternative reality, which could have replaced the actual one, is called counterfactual thinking. Counterfactual thoughts influence our feelings and thoughts about certain past events or actions. They also inform us how to prevent the past from repeating itself [5]. Therefore, counterfactual thinking is heavily intertwined with both past and future episodic thoughts. Recent neurological studies show that episodic past and future thinking share several areas in the brain, which reflect common memory and social processes. A first set of areas is directly engaged by a variety of memory processes. Episodic memory (i.e., about specific events) activates the precuneus (PC) and nearby areas, including the retrosplenial cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex [4,9]. Semantic memory (i.e., general world knowledge) recruits the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and also the temporal pole (TP), which plays, among other functions, an important role in representing social semantic concepts [6]. Relational processing in memory and the creation of new memory traces engages the (para-) hippocampus (HC [1]). A second set of areas is involved in social cognition: thinking about the mind of oneself or other persons (mentalizing). According to Van Overwalle [10] mentalizing about temporary goals, intentions or desires of self or other persons activates the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ); while inferring more long-term social