How does the brain enable me to see and/or feel the things I’m thinking about?
In: Biology
You can think of the brain as a performer. On the one hand, it has moments where it does a real live show – actually experiencing something through sight or touch. On the other hand, it can rehearse and plan for the real deal to give it an advantage for the big show.
This rehersal occurs through memory. You have seen an apple before, so when you imagine biting an apple, your brain rehearses the sight, smell, and taste of your previous experience. The reason it exists is because it actually can help you improve on performance and prepare in advance to give you a survival advantage.
There are lots of cool studies that show if you imagine doing something new before you do it, you are better at it when you actually try the thing (e.g. [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/716357v1](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/716357v1) )
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