Brain scans from a Washington University - St. Louis study suggest that our ability to envision the future is impacted greatly by our ability to recall the past. Without memories, doing so may even be downright impossible, results show, helping to explain why amnesiacs have trouble picturing the future in more than an abstract sense.
Twenty-one students were asked to describe past personal events and then imagine similar future scenarios. Brain scans taken during this time showed complete overlap in the areas of the brain used during each function. Research further suggests that the visual contexts and bodily motions in imagined in future scenarios are based on memories of those seen and performed in the past, explaining the overlap.
Read more: Time past, time future intricately connected in the brain: study