Motor imagery in individuals with congenital aphantasia

Abstract

Individuals who experience aphantasia have an inability to create sensory mental images, what lead to a range of cognitive and behavioral differences compared to the general population. However, little is known about how this phenomenon affects the creation of motor imagery. Our study aims to check the differences in changes of hemoglobine concentration between individuals with congenital aphantasia (AG) and control group (CG) during creating a kinesthetic (KMI) or visual-motor (VMI) representation of movement. Twenty participants (10 AG) who participated in the experiment were matched by age, gender, education level, and handedness. During data collection, a hemodynamic signal was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscope (fNIRS). The participants performed a procedure that enabled the control of perspective and cognitive strategies during motor imagery using a haptic interface. The results indicate that AG demonstrate reduced oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in the right middle frontal gyrus and right motor cortex regions. The findings suggest that AG primarily rely on semantic or kinesthetic strategies, while CG tend to use visual cognitive strategies during both the KMI and VMI tasks. Furthermore, we propose that AG may exhibit difficulty with the process of reorienting attention from exogenous to endogenous control.