Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Readers Build Vivid Mental Simulations Of Narrative Situations

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
This accords well with my own experiences, and also with my dreams. "Psychologists and neuroscientists are increasingly coming to the conclusion that when we read a story and really understand it, we create a mental simulation of the events described by the story." What this means, I think, is that layers of neurons activated by the senses, creating experiences and perceptions, can also be activated in the same way by alternative stimuli, such as stories, or recalled stimuli, such as memories and dreams. It goes without saying that reactivation of these experiences reinforces the connections between elements of the experience and the elements that reactivate it.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 26, 2024 08:14 a.m.

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