Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Neural systems shared by visual imagery and visual perception: a positron emission tomography study

S M Kosslyn1, W L Thompson, N M Alpert

  • 1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.

Neuroimage
|February 7, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Brain imaging reveals that visual perception and mental imagery share significant neural overlap. Most activated brain areas were common to both tasks, suggesting integrated visual processing networks.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Receptive field characteristics that allow parietal lobe neurons to encode spatial properties of visual input: a computational analysis.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

Visual Mental Imagery Activates Topographically Organized Visual Cortex: PET Investigations.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

Individual differences in cerebral blood flow in area 17 predict the time to evaluate visualized letters.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

Is cognitive neuropsychology plausible? The perils of sitting on a one-legged stool.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

Why are "What" and "Where" Processed by Separate Cortical Visual Systems? A Computational Investigation.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

On cognitive neuroscience.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Understanding the neural basis of visual perception and mental imagery is crucial for cognitive neuroscience.
  • Previous research suggests overlap but also distinct neural substrates for these two processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the common and distinct neural activations during visual perception and mental imagery using positron emission tomography (PET).
  • To determine the extent of shared brain regions involved in processing visual information and constructing mental images.

Main Methods:

  • Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to scan brain activity in human subjects.
  • Participants engaged in perceptual tasks (judging name appropriateness for canonical and noncanonical object images) and imagery tasks (visualizing block letters and assessing overlap with a target X).

Related Experiment Videos

  • A baseline condition involved simple stimulus response.

    • Main Results:

    • Fourteen brain areas showed common activation between perceptual and imagery tasks, with only one potentially outside visual processing (precentral gyrus).
    • Two areas were uniquely activated during perception, while five areas were uniquely activated during imagery.
    • Approximately two-thirds of all activated areas were common to both perception and imagery tasks.

    Conclusions:

    • Visual perception and mental imagery largely rely on shared neural networks.
    • The findings support an integrated model of visual processing, where perception and imagery recruit overlapping brain regions.