Remembering what could have happened: Neural correlates of episodic counterfactual thinking

► Participants remembered past events and thought of counterfactual alternatives to past events. ► A common pattern of activation for episodic memory and episodic counterfactual thinking was found. ► Different patterns of activation for likely and unlikely counterfactuals were identified. ► Brain regions parametrically modulated by likelihood during episodic counterfactual thinking are reported.