How the Brain Replays Sight to Create Mental Images
Neuroscience News • • general
Key Points:
- A new study by Cedars-Sinai researchers revealed that imagining an object activates the same neurons in the fusiform gyrus as actually seeing the object, explaining why mental images feel vivid and real.
- Approximately 40% of neurons responsive to visual stimuli "fire" in the same pattern during both perception and imagination, indicating a shared neural code for seeing and imagining.
- Using AI, researchers decoded this neural code and generated new images that elicited predicted brain responses, confirming the brain's mechanism for recreating visual experiences.
- The findings offer potential clinical applications for treating disorders like PTSD and OCD, where intrusive vivid imagery causes distress, by targeting the neural processes underlying mental visualization.
- This study confirms that the neural coding for object recognition found in primates also exists in humans, providing fundamental insight into the biological basis of visual imagination.
