Neuroscience & Mechanisms

What does the brain do differently when it can't generate mental images? Researchers use fMRI, electrical stimulation, and connectivity mapping to find out.

Neuroscience & Mechanisms

What does the brain do differently when it can't generate mental images? Researchers use fMRI, electrical stimulation, and connectivity mapping to find out.

Reference

A neuronal basis for mental imagery

Researchers discovered that mental imagery reactivates the same sensory code as perception at the single-neuron level. This suggests that aphantasia may stem from how this shared activity is generated, modulated, or read out by the brain.

Fleming, S. M., & Dijkstra, N. (2026). A neuronal basis for mental imagery. Cell Research. doi:10.1038/s41422-026-01260-6

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

Researchers propose that imagery reshapes spontaneous neural activity via inhibitory feedback rather than driving new spikes in early visual areas. This suggests the spectrum from aphantasia to hyperphantasia is driven by the strength of cortical inhibition.

Koenig-Robert, R., Pace, T., & Pearson, J. (2026). Spiking the mind: rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery.. Psychological Review. doi:10.1037/rev0000621

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Mental imagery and perception overlap within transmodal association networks

Mental imagery and perception overlap in transmodal association networks rather than unimodal sensory areas. This suggests that high-level brain systems, not just sensory reinstatement, are the primary drivers of mental imagery.

Anderson, N. L., Salvo, J. J., Smallwood, J., & Braga, R. M. (2026). Mental imagery and perception overlap within transmodal association networks. Neuron. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2026.03.013

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Reference

Neuroradiological Insights into Visual Mental Imagery: Structural and Functional Imaging of Ventral and Dorsal Streams

Researchers found that visual imagery recruits ventral and dorsal streams, with deficits often caused by white-matter disconnection. This suggests aphantasia is a network-level condition where higher-order systems fail to engage visual representations.

Redžepi, S., Avdagić, E., Šahinović, A., & Pojskić, M. (2026). Neuroradiological insights into visual mental imagery: structural and functional imaging of ventral and dorsal streams. Brain Sciences, 16(4), 345. doi:10.3390/brainsci16040345

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The Fusiform Imagery Node: Where vision meets concepts in the left temporal lobe

The Fusiform Imagery Node (FIN) in the left hemisphere is a key hub for generating mental images across different domains. This suggests that aphantasia may result from impaired communication between the FIN and the prefrontal cortex.

Bartolomeo, P., Liu, J., & Spagna, A. (2026). The fusiform imagery node: where vision meets concepts in the left temporal lobe. Neuropsychologia, 224, 109398. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2026.109398

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Disturbing the sound of silence: Bilateral temporal cortex stimulation and auditory mental imagery

Bilateral temporal cortex stimulation significantly reduced the volitional control of auditory imagery while leaving vividness largely unaffected. This suggests that the ability to manipulate internal sounds relies on specific temporal-cortical dynamics distinct from those supporting image clarity.

Rollo, B., Malatesta, G., D’Anselmo, A., Lucafò, C., & Tommasi, L. (2026). Disturbing the sound of silence: bilateral temporal cortex stimulation and auditory mental imagery. Brain and Cognition, 192, 106378. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2025.106378

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Reference

Lesions Causing Aphantasia are Connected to the Fusiform Imagery Node

Lesions causing aphantasia are all functionally connected to a specific region in the left ventral visual pathway called the fusiform imagery node. This provides causal evidence that this node's connections are key for voluntary visual imagery.

Kutsche, J., Howard, C., Palacin, A. C., Drew, W., Michel, M., Cohen, A. L., Fox, M. D., & Kletenik, I. (2026). Lesions causing aphantasia are connected to the fusiform imagery node. Cortex. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2026.01.009

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Neural network topologies supporting individual variations in vividness of visual imagery

Vivid mental imagery is supported by high local efficiency and segregation in the imagery, occipital, and salience brain networks. This suggests that specialized, localized information transfer across these key networks is essential for vivid visualization.

Kvamme, T. L., Lumaca, M., Bajada, C. J., Gregersen, S. D., Hobot, J., Paunovic, D., Wierzchon, M., Zana, B., Silvanto, J., & Sandberg, K. (2025). Neural network topologies supporting individual variations in vividness of visual imagery. NeuroImage, 321, 121520. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121520

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Visual imagery vividness correlates with afterimage conscious perception

Researchers found that visual imagery vividness positively correlates with the contrast and sharpness of negative afterimages. This suggests that afterimages and mental imagery may share top-down neural mechanisms in the brain.

Kronemer, S. I., Holness, M., Morgan, A. T., Teves, J. B., Gonzalez-Castillo, J., Handwerker, D. A., & Bandettini, P. A. (2024). Visual imagery vividness correlates with afterimage conscious perception. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2024(1). doi:10.1093/nc/niae032

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Neuronal activation patterns during self-referential pain imagination

Imagining oneself in painful situations activates brain regions typically involved in actual pain processing, such as the somatosensory and motor cortices. This provides preliminary evidence for a neuronal imagination-perception overlap in pain.

Vetterlein, A., Plieger, T., Monzel, M., Hogeterp, S. A., Wagner, L., Grünhage, T., Felten, A., Trautner, P., Karneboge, J., & Reuter, M. (2024). Neuronal activation patterns during self-referential pain imagination. Neurobiology of Pain, 16, 100158. doi:10.1016/j.ynpai.2024.100158

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Uncovering the Role of the Early Visual Cortex in Visual Mental Imagery

The early visual cortex represents fine-grained visual details during mental imagery in a similar way to perception. This suggests that the recruitment of these areas depends on the level of visual detail required by the mental image.

Dijkstra, N. (2024). Uncovering the role of the early visual cortex in visual mental imagery. Vision, 8(2), 29. doi:10.3390/vision8020029

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Reference

Visual imagery deficits in posterior cortical atrophy

Posterior cortical atrophy causes progressive impairment of higher-order visual functions due to degeneration in the brain's posterior regions. Recognizing these specific visual deficits is crucial for early diagnosis of this atypical Alzheimer's variant.

Dietz, C. D., Albonico, A., Tree, J. J., & Barton, J. J. S. (2023). Visual imagery deficits in posterior cortical atrophy. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 40(7-8), 351–366. doi:10.1080/02643294.2024.2346362

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Video

Breaking the Connectivity Code: How The Aphantasia Brain Access Visual Information Without the Mind's Eye

How a brain researcher's journey from engineering to neuroscience uncovered the hidden networks that allow people with aphantasia to navigate a visual world without mental imagery—and what this reveals about the nature of consciousness itself.

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Video

When Your Brain Runs in Reverse: A Neuroscientist's Journey Through Aphantasia

What happens when a neuroscientist studying visual hallucinations discovers he can't visualize at all? Mac Shine's personal revelation led to groundbreaking insights about how our brains create—and fail to create—mental imagery.

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Reference

Modelling perception as a hierarchical competition differentiates imagined, veridical, and hallucinated percepts

Researchers found that sensory input competes with mental imagery in a hierarchical neural network, preventing thoughts from dominating low-level sensory regions. This explains why mental imagery feels less vivid than real perception and how aphantasia arises from overweighted bottom-up signals.

Sulfaro, A. A., Robinson, A. K., & Carlson, T. A. (2023). Modelling perception as a hierarchical competition differentiates imagined, veridical, and hallucinated percepts. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2023(1). doi:10.1093/nc/niad018

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Video

Blind Mind's Eye - The Science of Visual Imagery Extremes

Adam Zeman shares the rediscovery of aphantasia, a blind mind's eye, in this presentation from the 2021 Extreme Imagination Conference and Exhibition.

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Reference

Visual mental imagery engages the left fusiform gyrus, but not the early visual cortex: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence

Researchers found that visual mental imagery relies on a core network in the left fusiform gyrus and fronto-parietal regions rather than early visual cortex. This suggests imagery is a top-down process initiated by prefrontal and semantic systems.

Spagna, A., Hajhajate, D., Liu, J., & Bartolomeo, P. (2021). Visual mental imagery engages the left fusiform gyrus, but not the early visual cortex: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 122, 201–217. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.029

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Video

Discovery of Aphantasia: How Dr. Adam Zeman Found the Missing Mind's Eye

The complete story of how aphantasia was discovered and what it means for millions of people worldwide.

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Discussion

Can electrical stimulation modify your imagery?

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Can electrical stimulation enhance or alter how we visualize? What are the potential implications for imagery across different senses?

Article

Shocking Insights: What Electrical Stimulation Tells Us About How We Visualize

Why might your mind's eye be blind while your friend can picture crystal-clear images? Shocking insights into the known neurodifferences in imagery vividness.

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