Visual Imagery and Perception Share Neural Representations in the Alpha Frequency Band.

ABSTRACT: To behave adaptively with sufficient flexibility, biological organisms must cognize beyond immediate reaction to a physically present stimulus. For this, humans use visual mental imagery [1, 2], the ability to conjure up a vivid internal experience from memory that stands in for the percept of the stimulus. Visually imagined contents subjectively mimic perceived contents, suggesting that imagery and perception share common neural mechanisms. Using multivariate pattern analysis on human electroencephalography (EEG) data, we compared the oscillatory time courses of mental imagery and perception of objects. We found that representations shared between imagery and perception emerged specifically in the alpha frequency band. These representations were present in posterior, but not anterior, ele

SUBMITTER: Xie S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7342016 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature