Counterfactuals in action: An fMRI study of counterfactual sentences describing physical effort

► We used fMRI to examine the neural underpinnings of counterfactual comprehension. ► We crossed high- and low-effort sentences with factual and counterfactual sentences. ► Counterfactuals recruited medial pre-motor and pre-frontal and inferotemporal regions. ► All high-effort sentences elicited more activity in a parietal region. ► Counterfactuals recruited a network encoding and managing action representations.