Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery.

Abstract

Recent research has revealed similarities between visual mental imagery and visual perception. Visual imagery is supported by cortical feedback involving multiple visual areas, including the primary visual cortex, and functionally interacts with perception. This has led to the assumption that imagery is "perception in reverse," with feedback connections driving action potentials in early visual areas. However, evidence on feedback mechanisms is mixed, often exerting modulation (often as negative gain control) in sensory areas. Here, we examine and interpret the current understanding of feedback mechanisms related to visual imagery, integrating this with its functional effects and neural correlates. Finally, we put forward a new hypothesis, along with testable predictions, proposing that imagery reshapes spontaneous neural activity rather than producing spiking in early visual areas. This new framework explains many of the properties of visual imagery while providing a better general understanding of feedback and brain function. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Abstract

How They Studied It

This is a theoretical paper that analyzes years of existing brain research rather than testing new participants. The researchers looked at data from brain scans (fMRI) and studies of individual brain cells (neurons) to see if the traditional "spiking" theory—the idea that imagining an object makes neurons fire more—actually matches how the brain works.

What They Found

The researchers found that the traditional theory doesn't explain why mental images are so much weaker than real sight. They propose a new "reshaping" hypothesis: instead of turning neurons on to create an image, the brain might actually turn off the background noise of neurons that aren't related to what you are imagining. By silencing the "wrong" cells, the brain "carves" a mental image out of the brain's natural, ongoing activity.

What This Might Mean

This suggests that aphantasia—the inability to visualize—might not be caused by a "broken" visualization switch, but rather by a difference in how the brain filters its own internal noise. If the brain cannot effectively silence unrelated neurons, a clear mental image cannot emerge. While this theory fits current data better than old models, it still needs to be tested in live experiments with people who have aphantasia.

What This Study Is About

This research proposes a new theory for how the brain creates mental imagery—the ability to picture things in your mind. It challenges the common idea that imagining something works like "perception in reverse" by activating the same brain cells used for seeing.

How They Studied It

What They Found

What This Might Mean

One Interesting Detail

The study points out that while we often think of the brain as "quiet" until we see or do something, it is actually constantly active; this "spontaneous activity" accounts for most of the brain's energy use, even when we are resting in total darkness.

Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery.

Abstract

Authors

Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery.

Abstract

Authors

Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery.

Abstract

Authors

Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery.

Abstract

Authors

What This Study Is About

How They Studied It

What They Found

What This Might Mean

One Interesting Detail

Joel Pearson

Merlin Monzel

Adam Zeman

Rebecca Keogh

Martin Reuter

Juha Silvanto

Paolo Bartolomeo

Carla Dance

Jianghao Liu

Fraser Milton

What This Study Is About

How They Studied It

What They Found

What This Might Mean

One Interesting Detail