Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42626409›Full record

ArticleNeuroscience of consciousness2026

Why do we need imagination-reality monitoring?

Nadine Dijkstra, Stephen M Fleming, Nicholas Shea

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuroscience of consciousness, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Nadine DijkstraDepartment of Imaging Neuroscience, University College London, 12 Queen Square, WC1 3AR London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1423-9277
Stephen M FlemingDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AP London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0233-4891
Nicholas SheaInstitute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, Senate House Malet Street, WC1E 7HU, University of London, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ability to imagine scenarios decoupled from the immediate environment supports a wide range of cognitive functions, such as planning, memory, and decision making. However, this increase in cognitive sophistication comes with a potential cost of mistaking simulation for reality. Here, we provide a functional analysis of the imagination-reality problem and argue that the specific way that imagination is used to guide behaviour puts unique constraints on the ability to distinguish it from reality. Our analysis illuminates the space of possible solutions supporting the ability to separate imagination from reality and offers a roadmap for future empirical research.

Indexed as

imagerymetacognitionreality monitoring

Identifiers

PMID42626409
PMCPMC13492659

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.