What does the brain do differently when it can't generate mental images? Researchers use fMRI, electrical stimulation, and connectivity mapping to find out.
Fleming and Dijkstra · Cell Research
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.
Koenig-Robert, Pace and Pearson · Psychological Review
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.
Anderson and colleagues · Neuron
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.
Redžepi and colleagues · Brain Sciences
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.
