I study how we remember past events and imagine future events, and the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying both processes or specific to each of them. I am interested in the role of (self- and event-) schemata during remembering and imagining, and in the mechanism by which memories and thoughts capture attention, moving it away from the present (perceptual) reality and towards our inner world (mind-wandering). These studies are focused on the interplay among the hippocampus, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior parietal cortex during event construction. I am also interested in the psychological function of episodic memory and future thinking, for example when making choices or interacting with others. Finally, I study how to rehabilitate memory in patients with brain lesion or dysfunction.
