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Harnessing Visual Imagery and Oculomotor Behaviour to Understand Prospection. Conti Federica,Irish Muireann Trends in cognitive sciences Much of the rich internal world constructed by humans is derived from, and experienced through, visual mental imagery. Despite growing appreciation of visual exploration in guiding episodic memory processes, extant theories of prospection have yet to accommodate the precise role of visual mental imagery in the service of future-oriented thinking. We propose that the construction of future events relies on the assimilation of perceptual details originally experienced, and subsequently reinstantiated, predominantly in the visual domain. Individual differences in the capacity to summon discrete aspects of visual imagery can therefore account for the diversity of content generated by humans during future simulation. Our integrative framework provides a novel testbed to query alterations in future thinking in health and disease. 10.1016/j.tics.2021.01.009
Innovations in digital interventions for psychological trauma: harnessing advances in cognitive science. Andersson Erik,Holmes Emily A,Kavanagh David mHealth A range of digital psychological interventions have demonstrated a positive impact on trauma-related problems in controlled trials, but there is room for further improvements in their form, reach and impact. Most to date have been adaptions of established face-to-face treatments. In this paper, we highlight a complementary emerging route to their development, which draws on advances in cognitive science theory and research and applies them to clinical contexts. Three examples are given regarding laboratory research with potential applications to digital interventions for trauma-related mental health problems: a digital game to reduce intrusive memories of trauma, novel cognitive techniques for worry, and digitally supported mental imagery to enhance motivation for functional behavior change. Much of this research is still at an early stage, meriting a balance of optimism and caution. However, even if only a few digital applications of cognitive science constitute substantial improvements to complement current treatments, their potential for large-scale use at low unit cost may provide significant benefits across populations. 10.21037/mhealth.2018.09.11