Visual mental imagery in typical imagers and in aphantasia: A millimeter-scale 7-T fMRI study

Most of us effortlessly describe visual objects, whether seen or remembered. Yet, around 4% of people report congenital aphantasia: they struggle to visualize objects despite being able to describe their visual appearance. What neural mechanisms create this disparity between subjective experience and objective performance? Aphantasia can provide novel insights into conscious processing and awareness. We used ultra-high field 7T fMRI to establish the neural circuits involved in visual mental imagery and perception, and to elucidate the neural mechanisms associated with the processing of internally generated visual information in the absence of imagery experience in congenital aphantasia. Ten typical imagers and…

• AN
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche

  Awards: ANR-10-IAIHU-06, ANR-16-CE37-0005
• IN
  Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
• CÀ
  Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
• DS
  Dassault Systèmes La Fondation