In prediction-motion (PM) tasks, people judge the current position of an occluded moving object. People can also judge the current number on an occluded digital counter or the current colour of an occluded colour-change display. These abilities imply that we can run mental simulations at a chosen speed, even without feedback from the senses. There is increasing evidence that the brain has a common rate control module for pacing all such dynamic mental simulations. The common rate control account of PM has more explanatory power than alternative accounts which emphasise the role of mental imagery or the oculomotor system. Finally, neuroimaging work suggests that the common rate controller is a part of a core timing network that incorporates basal ganglia circuitry.
Keywords: Internal clock; Motion extrapolation; Occluded motion; Time-to-contact.