Mental simulation is the internal modeling of scenarios, actions, or outcomes that haven't been directly experienced. People use it constantly: rehearsing a difficult conversation, imagining how a recipe might turn out, predicting how a colleague will react, simulating possible futures during planning, or empathically modeling another person's experience. In cognitive science, mental simulation is a core concept linking memory, imagination, theory of mind, and prediction.
Mental simulation often draws on sensory imagery—visual scenes, auditory dialogue, motor sensation, even olfactory or gustatory anticipation. But it can also operate semantically and conceptually, in propositions or scenarios rather than sensory experience. People with aphantasia or low imagery in some senses still simulate—they just route through different cognitive channels, often relying more heavily on inner speech, abstract reasoning, and explicit logical inference. Understanding your Imagery Profile clarifies which simulation modes are most available to you and which might benefit from external scaffolding.