The fields of psychology and neuroscience are in the midst of an explosion of research aimed at illuminating the human imagination—the ability to form thoughts and mental images that stretch beyond what is currently available to the senses. Imaginative thought is proving to be remarkably diverse, capturing the capacity to recall past experiences, consider what lies ahead, and understand other people’s minds, in addition to other forms of creative and spontaneous thinking. In the first part of this article, we introduce an integrative framework that attempts to explain how components of a core brain network facilitate interacting features of imagination that we refer to as the mind’s eye and mind’s mind. We then highlight three emerging research directions that could inform our understanding of how imagination arises and unfolds in everyday life.

心理学和神经科学领域正处于旨在启发人类想象力的研究爆炸式增长中——形成超越目前感官所能获得的思想和心理图像的能力。想象力被证明是非常多样化的，除了其他形式的创造性和自发思维之外，它还具有回忆过去经历、考虑未来和理解他人思想的能力。在本文的第一部分，我们介绍了一个综合框架，该框架试图解释核心大脑网络的组成部分如何促进想象的交互特征，我们称之为心灵的眼睛和心灵的心灵. 然后，我们重点介绍三个新兴研究方向，这些方向可以帮助我们了解想象力在日常生活中是如何产生和展开的。