Neural substrates of tactile imagery: a functional MRI study

Yoo and colleaguesFebruary 2003

Abstract
What This Study Is About
How They Studied It
What They Found
What This Might Mean
One Interesting Detail
Authors
Cite this paper

Abstract

fMRI investigation on the neural substrates involved in tactile imagery is reported. Healthy subjects performed mental imagery of tactile stimulation on the dorsal aspect of the right hand. The results were compared with the regions of activation during the actual tactile stimulation. During imagery, contralateral primary and secondary somatosensory areas were activated along with activation in the left parietal lobe. Activations in left inferior frontal gyri (Brodmann's area 44), left dorsolateral prefrontal area, left precentral gyrus, left insula, and medial frontal gyrus were also observed. In the basal ganglia, activation in the left thalamus (ventral posteromedial nucleus) and putamen was found. Our results suggest that the primary and secondary somatosensory areas are recruited during tactile imagery, and have partially overlapping neural substrates for the perception of tactile stimulation.

Our summary in plain words

What This Study Is About

This study explores what happens in the brain when people imagine the sensation of touch. Researchers wanted to see if "feeling" a touch in your mind uses the same brain regions as actually being touched.

How They Studied It

Researchers recruited 13 healthy volunteers for the study. While lying in an fMRI scanner (a machine that measures brain activity), participants experienced two different conditions:

Actual Touch: A technician gently brushed the back of the participant's right hand with a specialized filament.

Tactile Imagery: Participants were asked to mentally recreate that exact sensation of being brushed on their hand, without any physical contact.

The researchers then compared the brain scans from both conditions to see where the activity overlapped. Two participants were unable to perform the imagery task and were excluded from the final results.

What They Found

The study found that imagining a touch activates many of the same brain areas used during real physical contact. Specifically, the "primary" and "secondary" somatosensory areas—the parts of the brain responsible for processing touch—were active during both the real and imagined sensations.

However, there were key differences. The brain activity during imagery was significantly weaker than during the real touch. Additionally, certain areas involved in planning and complex thought (like the prefrontal cortex) were only active during the imagery task, suggesting the brain has to work harder to "generate" a sensation from scratch than to simply react to one.

What This Might Mean

These findings suggest that mental imagery is not just a "thought," but a process that recruits the brain's actual sensory systems. For people with aphantasia—who often report an inability to mentally recreate sensations like touch, sound, or sight—this might suggest that these sensory "loops" in the brain are functioning differently. However, because this study only looked at people who could imagine touch, more research is needed to see if these same brain areas remain quiet in those who cannot.

One Interesting Detail

The researchers found that the brain's "map" of the body remains consistent even in the imagination; the specific spot in the brain that lit up when the hand was actually touched was the exact same spot that lit up when the person only imagined the hand being touched.

This summary was written with AI and may contain errors. Check the original paper.

Authors

Seung-Schik Yoo
1 paper in the library
Daniel K. Freeman
1 paper in the library
James J. McCarthy
1 paper in the library
Ferenc A. Jolesz
1 paper in the library

Cite this paper

Yoo, S.-S., Freeman, D. K., McCarthy, J. J., & Jolesz, F. A. (2003). Neural substrates of tactile imagery: a functional mri study. NeuroReport, 14(4), 581–585. doi:10.1097/00001756-200303240-00011

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Research NeuroReport

Neural substrates of tactile imagery: a functional MRI study

Yoo and colleaguesFebruary 2003

Read the paper

Abstract
What This Study Is About
How They Studied It
What They Found
What This Might Mean
One Interesting Detail
Authors
Cite this paper

Abstract

Our summary in plain words

What This Study Is About

How They Studied It

Researchers recruited 13 healthy volunteers for the study. While lying in an fMRI scanner (a machine that measures brain activity), participants experienced two different conditions:

Actual Touch: A technician gently brushed the back of the participant's right hand with a specialized filament.

Tactile Imagery: Participants were asked to mentally recreate that exact sensation of being brushed on their hand, without any physical contact.

What They Found

What This Might Mean

One Interesting Detail

This summary was written with AI and may contain errors. Check the original paper.

Authors

Seung-Schik Yoo
1 paper in the library
Daniel K. Freeman
1 paper in the library
James J. McCarthy
1 paper in the library
Ferenc A. Jolesz
1 paper in the library

Cite this paper

Yoo, S.-S., Freeman, D. K., McCarthy, J. J., & Jolesz, F. A. (2003). Neural substrates of tactile imagery: a functional mri study. NeuroReport, 14(4), 581–585. doi:10.1097/00001756-200303240-00011

Topics

Neuroscience & Mechanisms

Most-cited researchers

Recruit participants for your study

We can help you reach people across the imagery spectrum, from aphantasia to hyperphantasia.

Partner with us

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