The Link Between Memory and Planning for the Future

Many of the same processes that we engage when we remember a past experience are engaged when we project into the future and imagine a possible experience. For memory to be helpful as a guide to future thinking, it needs to be able to recombine an pieces of our past experience in order to simulate upcoming events. We need a flexible system that allows us to recombine different aspects of experience for use in planning ahead. Caspar Weinberger: Memory is built so that we can use it to stimulate future events - i would argue that makes memory very useful.