TYPE Editorial

PUBLISHED 26 November 2024

DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1523760

Editorial: Imagination, cognition,

OPEN ACCESS and the arts
EDITED AND REVIEWED BY
Lutz Jäncke,
University of Zurich, Switzerland Víctor Bermúdez1 , Renata Gambino2*, Benito García-Valero3
*CORRESPONDENCE and Grazia Pulvirenti4
Renata Gambino
rgambino@unict.it 1
Department of Spanish Language, Section of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature, University
of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain, 2 Department of Humanities, DISUM, Section of German Studies,
RECEIVED 06 November 2024
University of Catania, Catania, Italy, 3 Department of Spanish Language, General Linguistics and Theory
ACCEPTED 11 November 2024
of Literature, University of Alicante, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, 4 University of Catania,
PUBLISHED 26 November 2024
Catania, Italy
CITATION
Bermúdez V, Gambino R, García-Valero B and
Pulvirenti G (2024) Editorial: Imagination, KEYWORDS
cognition, and the arts.
Front. Hum. Neurosci. 18:1523760. imagination, cognition, arts, literature, imaging
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1523760

COPYRIGHT
© 2024 Bermúdez, Gambino, García-Valero
and Pulvirenti. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Editorial on the Research Topic
Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The
Imagination, cognition, and the arts
use, distribution or reproduction in other
forums is permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are
credited and that the original publication in
this journal is cited, in accordance with Imagination has long been and continues to be an enigmatic concept, frequently
accepted academic practice. No use, addressed but rarely fully elucidated, even by prominent philosophers such as Aristotle,
distribution or reproduction is permitted
Hume, Kant, and Husserl. Its definition and interpretation changes significantly across
which does not comply with these terms.
different heuristic frameworks—philosophical, aesthetic, poetic, and cognitive. The diverse
discourses on imagination have generated persistent, unresolved questions regarding its
modalities and effects, particularly concerning the construction of aesthetic and symbolic
experiences. Symbolic experiences emerge from our capacity to manipulate tangible
elements and perceptions of the real world, exploring through imagination their latent
potentialities. During the 1970s, imagination was often undervalued, as noted by Huppauf
and Wulf:

In the aftermath of the radical sixties, skepticism toward the social and political
power of the imagination became popular. A political interpretation of the imagination
created great expectations but they, it turned out, were mistaken... The imagination has
had an uneven and controversial history in the modern period. For most of the time,
it was considered secondary and ancillary and sometimes even a dangerous human
faculty... It was placed among the weaknesses of the human nature and, at the same
time, seen as an origin of the fear of losing control over reality. It seemed irreconcilable
with the idea of self-determination through the production of knowledge in scientific
disciplines (see Huppauf and Wulf, 2009, p. 1–2).

Conversely, in recent decades we have witnessed sustained investigation into

imagination within cognitive studies, evolutionary anthropology, and cognitive and
developmental psychology. Imagination has mainly been recognized as a core
representational activity of the mindbrain. Numerous hypotheses and theories underscore
different characteristics and functions of imagination (for review, see Brann, 2017;
Kearney, 1988; Stevenson, 2003). Some scholars posit that imagination mediates
the relationship between perceptions and mental representations, contributing to
the construction of the “human imagination spectrum” (McGinn, 2004) and the
“multidimensional continuum view” (Nigel, 2014). These frameworks suggest that
imagination plays a crucial role in forming a stable representation of the world for each
perceiving individual. Imagination, is therefore intended as the cognitive ability which

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empowers humans to creatively shape their experiences, concurrent neural activities generated either exogenously or
perceptions, and visions of self and world, as well as memories endogenously (Thompson, 2007, p. 79).
and emotions. Through this dynamic, inferential, and integrated process
Given its fundamental role in human existence, imagination has of imagination, the subject constructs the imaginative figuration
gradually become a focal point in contemporary cognitive research. of the world and their existence within it as an autopoietic
Scholars like Mark Turner emphasize the epistemic necessity being (Maturana and Varela, 1980). Imagination, akin to
of investigating imaginative processes to not only unravel this perception, memory, consciousness, and cognition, along with
profound enigma of the human mind brain but also to elucidate other related enactive functions and processes, contributes to
other cognitive faculties that depend on imagination (Turner, creating reproductive consciousness and the multidimensional
2014). In its vast array of activities, imagination is understood spectrum of the world. Moreover, imagination, defined as the
as a complex emergent cognitive faculty intricately linked with cognitive capacity to generate images, ideas, and sensations in
perception, memory, and consciousness. It is considered as shaping the absence of direct sensory input, constitutes a fundamental
human life by expanding the boundaries of our perceptual, pillar of human creativity and innovation. This faculty enables
affective understanding, influencing our actions, memories and individuals to surpass the constraints of the experience, envisioning
our very being. In accordance with the thesis of Lakoff and possibilities that extend beyond the tangible and immediate.
Johnson, imagination functions by shaping “categorization, reason, Among the manifold modes of imagination, we consider it to
propositional and non-propositional forms of thought,” through be an emergent and embodied process significant to any human
the employment of metaphor and narrative (Lakoff and Johnson, experience of reflecting on and transforming the world, whether
1980, p. 193). in thinking or in making artifacts. Imagination turns out to be
By manipulating and transforming perceptions, experiences intertwined with the embodied life “through the examples of
and elements of the real world into counterfactual images, explicitly embodied imagining in performance art, dance, and the
imagination reutilizes the somatosensory and motor systems making of film, as well as the evocations of embodiment through
(Gosetti-Ferencei, 2018; Gallese, 2019, p. 113–127). This painting, literature, and social responsiveness” (Gosetti-Ferencei,
imaginative manipulation involves the embodied activation 2018, p. 23–24). It plays a significant role not only in “representing”
of the sensorimotor system, which is reutilized when the mind to the “mind’s eye” what exists in reality, but also what does not
processes counterfactual images, elaborates them through language exist and is evoked out of the sphere of pure potentialities of the
and various media, or engages with mental imagery (Kuzmičová, “invisible” (Franzini, 2001).
2014, p. 275–293) elicited by literature, visual artworks and From this perspective, human imagination has the capacity to
different media. model the invisible by creating eidola. The indistinct horizon of
Imagination can be observed and described as a complex unexpressed potentiality in the realm of the invisible is directly
system exhibiting features known as “self-organization” related to the visible, encompassing the hidden aspects of a
or “emergence,” involving the activation of multiple neural perceived object. The image, as a whole, emerges out of the
circuits engaged in higher associative cognitive functions. These imaginative processes containing elements that are not directly
fundamentally chaotic or complex systems have the capacity visible. These premises enable the analysis of images by tracing
to produce patterns that appear non-chaotic and predictable. the process of their emergence within a horizon of meaning that,
Drawing on the work of Varela and Thompson, every living while exceeding empirical observation, finds fulfillment in sensory
organism is an enactive and imagining being, integrating a series experience. From this perspective, the invisible is not the unknown
of similar processes. From this perspective, imagination can be or unspeakable but rather a pre-categorical dimension that serves
considered an integrated and dynamic flow of sensorimotor, as the source of all acts of imagination:
memorial, visual, and eidetic activations (Varela et al., 1991;
Dennett and Marcel, 1992; Pöppel and Kerstin, 1995; Varela and Imagination is one of the quintessential qualities of life and
Depraz, 2003): of our being. Its central attribute is the manifestation of vivid,
lived mental content that does not refer directly to a perceived
Mental acts are characterized by the concurrent world but to an absence that it evokes. (Varela and Depraz,
participation of several functionally distinct and 2003, 195)
topographically distributed regions of the brain and their
sensorimotor embodiment. [. . . ] It follows that one cannot In this perspective, imagination plays a central role in the
hope to find a naturalized account of imagination as some construction and perception of aesthetic objects and literary
sort of cognitive module or brain region. It must necessarily texts. Literary imagination is not only relevant for literary
correspond, instead, to a dynamic, emerging global pattern scholars. Many philosophers (Engell, 2014) and neuroscientists
that is able both to integrate the body/brain activity at a large (Abraham, 2020) have found in literary imagination a study
scale and subside rapidly, for the benefit of the next moment of object and developed both conceptual frameworks and empirical
mental life. (Varela and Depraz, 2003, p. 201–202). methodologies to approach this complex human faculty at
different levels of specificity and based on its relationship with
This means that the function of imagination, in a simplified other cognitive processes like perception, memory, emotions or
form, is to shape the vast and diffuse experience of reality consciousness itself. Artistic and literary imagination unfolds the
into a coherent mental-cognitive state. This process involves most varied materials such as dreams, hallucinations, atmospheres,
the formation of an assembly that integrates or discards other the incomplete, the invisible, fictional realms, former realities, etc.,

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and in doing so literature, and the arts underline the human better in managing feelings of entitativity and presence. The results
capacity to elaborate images of both existing and non-exciting suggest that theatrical training improves social skills and emotional
entities, or to conceive hypothetical scenarios, actions or events regulation, benefiting both artistic and everyday interactions,
that expand our consciousness. In this respect, literary and artistic which provides new ground for utility of theater in human
imagination, involving different media, such as films, theatrical understanding in the age of distant connections among humans,
performance, video games, etc., fosters the development of a wide enabled by today’s technology.
range of cognitive faculties that prove to be relevant for human The anticipatory thinking that literature and the arts
adaptation and performance in the external reality. elicit has a long tradition in philosophy, and literary studies.
Because of its extensiveness, the topic of imagination requires The hermeneutical circle, for instance, as Schleiermacher,
a transdisciplinary approach, joining neuroscientific and cognitive Dilthey, or Gadamer conceived it, describe the interpretation of
research with studies on aesthetics, philosophy, and the fine arts. cultural materials as a constant and renewed anticipation and
In fact, the ambiguity and abundance of meanings comprised reconstruction process (Zimmermann, 2015). Such anticipatory
in artistic works strongly engage the imagination of the image thinking is at the core of Bortolotti et al.’s contribution
beholder and of the reader, triggering their cognitive faculties “Imagination vs. routines: festive time, weekly time, and the
and embodied simulation. The inquiry into imagination needs the predictive brain.” Here, the authors elaborate a conceptual
contribution of scholars in both the scientific and the humanities framework which relates social, artistic and cultural practices
fields, acknowledging conceptual and experimental approaches with neurobiological functions of prediction and social cognition.
through several epistemological perspectives. This Research Topic The study argues that traditions and social conventions play a
of Frontiers in Human neuroscience, and specifically in Cognitive substantial role in anticipation both as a practice and as a cognitive
Neuroscience was meant to address this complex question, opening process, which carries evolutionary value for humans, and it opens
to contribution in both human and scientific research fields. It a line for further research on neuroimaging of shared predictions.
gathers six articles facing the topic from different perspectives, The paper proves evidence on how art facilitate learning, play, and
but all revealing that the research about imagination links simulation faculties and how predictive cultures provide coherence
body, brain, existing and non-existing realities into a unique and cohesion to society.
experiential bundle, deeply influencing our everyday behaviors and The brain’s capacity to identify the self and relate it with
world construction. the others is at the basis of human understanding. In this
Kakimova and Salgaro’s exploration faces the question of how line, Portillo’s contribution approaches imagination through the
counterfactual historical fiction affects cognitive processing. The cognitive processes of empathy in the context of film studies
two researchers focus on the perception of historical realism and to argue that “film fictions are particularly effective at eliciting
the evocation of aesthetic emotions such as surprise. Through eye- emotions” (2). Her discussion examines the advantages and
tracking experiments, the study investigates how readers reconcile constrains of three models for the study of cinematic empathy,
real and imagined worlds on Robert Harris’s novel Fatherland. namely embodied simulation, resonance-enactment, and cinema
The findings reveal that counterfactual fiction, by contrasting with of empathy. Portillo concludes that empathy plays a substantial
known historical facts, triggers more cognitive effort and self- role not only on the engagement with film fictions but also
reflection than conventional historical narratives. It also suggests that cinematic imagination creates bounds with the external
a reduction in the readers’ receptivity to fascist ideology and social realities.
superstitions, enhancing critical thinking processes in a critical Ambiguity proves to be a formal feature in artistic production
time such as our decade, where extremist political discourses are that highly stimulates the brain as it opens a space for interpretation
gaining ground. and speculation. How to deal with the indeterminate is one of
Martínez, in the only solo paper of this Research Topic, the cognitive functions involved in literary imagination. The paper
presents an investigation on how the physiological descriptions of by Zheng “Prototype theory and the importance of literary form
characters’ emotions in literary narratives activate readers’ mental for moral imagination” investigates fuzzy conceptual boundaries
imagery and emotions. By analyzing two fictional texts, Harry arguing for a prototype theory for moral imagination in order
and Atonement, the study highlights the metonymic connection to understand how we make sense of literary ambiguities. The
between physiological symptoms (like trembling) and emotion paper relates literature with moral philosophy and discusses literary
schemata (like fear), emphasizing how these descriptions enhance examples in which particularities and universals provide a frame to
readers’ embodied experience of the narrative. In connection with decode ambiguity by means of prototypes and how this is relevant
the latest premises formulated in the field of neurohermeneutics, at a cognitive level.
her findings suggest that such physiological cues increase To conclude, in all papers, a central focus is represented
opportunities for emotional engagement, as readers draw from by the connections relating social, artistic and cultural practices
personal experiences to imagine and feel the emotions depicted. with imagination and embodied processes. This argument is
The value of theatrical practice on interpersonal especially relevant today, when the debate of Artificial Intelligence
synchronization behaviors in actors and non-actors is investigated is pervading almost every aspect of science and social life. The
by Sofia et al.. They put into test how acting experience enhances enactive approach to cognition and imagination is incompatible
the ability to establish effective relationships, manage personal and with the belief that machines can engage in imaginative activity
others’ emotions, and maintain a sense of presence during analogously to living beings. From the theoretical perspective
interactions. Using a joint task called Random Sequence we are assuming in this paper, imagination cannot be divorced
Generation (RSG), the research reveals that actors perform from perception, memory, emotions and sensations: neither does

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Bermúdez et al. 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1523760

cognition nor intelligence. In other words, it is not possible to Conflict of interest

imagine intelligence without a heart, so the term of “artificial
intelligence” becomes problematic as the word “intelligence” is The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
used in the fashion of the first cognitivist era, dominated by the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be
behavorist paradigm, before embodied approaches to cognition construed as a potential conflict of interest.
came to the foreground of biological sciences. Therefore, it
can be said that imagination, together with the production
of natural language, is the frontier of artificial intelligence for Publisher’s note
the challenges that this discipline and technology is facing in
the present. All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
Author contributions organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the
reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
VB: Writing – original draft. RG: Writing – original draft. claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or
BG-V: Writing – original draft. GP: Writing – original draft. endorsed by the publisher.

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