Vivid visual mental imagery in the absence of the primary visual cortex

Bridge, Holly; Harrold, Stephen; Holmes, Emily A.; Stokes, Mark G.; Kennard, Christopher

doi:10.1007/s00415-011-6299-z

Cited by 65 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Hence, even layer IV could possess remaining functionality in SH, providing a basis for experiencing visual imagery. Finally, findings from brain-lesioned patients challenge the notion that V1 constitutes a mandatory prerequisite for visual imagery (Bartolomeo 2008; Bridge et al 2012). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Visual imagery and functional connectivity in blindness: a single-case study

et al. 2015

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We present a case report on visual brain plasticity after total blindness acquired in adulthood. SH lost her sight when she was 27. Despite having been totally blind for 43 years, she reported to strongly rely on her vivid visual imagery. Three-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of SH and age-matched controls was performed. The MRI sequence included anatomical MRI, resting-state functional MRI, and task-related functional MRI where SH was instructed to imagine colours, faces, and motion. Compared to controls, voxel-based analysis revealed white matter loss along SH's visual pathway as well as grey matter atrophy in the calcarine sulci. Yet we demonstrated activation in visual areas, including V1, using functional MRI. Of the four identified visual resting-state networks, none showed alterations in spatial extent; hence, SH's preserved visual imagery seems to be mediated by intrinsic brain networks of normal extent. Time courses of two of these networks showed increased correlation with that of the inferior posterior default mode network, which may reflect adaptive changes supporting SH's strong internal visual representations. Overall, our findings demonstrate that conscious visual experience is possible even after years of absence of extrinsic input.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Visual imagery and functional connectivity in blindness: a single-case study

et al. 2015

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“…2009; Bridge et al. 2012). A patient study with the present approach may connect these findings to illustrate a causal relationship and consequently the mechanism of the thought suppression difficulty in individuals suffering from obsession.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic interactions of the cortical networks during thought suppression

et al. 2016

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ObjectivesThought suppression has spurred extensive research in clinical and preclinical fields, particularly with regard to the paradoxical aspects of this behavior. However, the involvement of the brain's inhibitory system in the dynamics underlying the continuous effort to suppress thoughts has yet to be clarified. This study aims to provide a unified perspective for the volitional suppression of internal events incorporating the current understanding of the brain's inhibitory system.Materials and MethodsTwenty healthy volunteers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while they performed thought suppression blocks alternating with visual imagery blocks. The whole dataset was decomposed by group‐independent component analysis into 30 components. After discarding noise components, the 20 valid components were subjected to further analysis of their temporal properties including task‐relatedness and between‐component residual correlation.ResultsCombining a long task period and a data‐driven approach, we observed a right‐side‐dominant, lateral frontoparietal network to be strongly suppression related. This network exhibited increased fluctuation during suppression, which is compatible with the well‐known difficulty of suppression maintenance.ConclusionsBetween‐network correlation provided further insight into the coordinated engagement of the executive control and dorsal attention networks, as well as the reciprocal activation of imagery‐related components, thus revealing neural substrates associated with the rivalry between intrusive thoughts and the suppression process.

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“…Disruption of stage 1 representations will also typically disrupt phenomenal experience because stage 2 representations normally depend on conjunctive integration over stage 1; however, restricted damage to stage 1 representations may allow for preserved, top-down activation of stage 2 representations during visual imagery (Bridge et al, 2012). Disruption of stage 3 representations will leave direct phenomenology intact, but in preventing conscious access to conceptual category identities within one's experience, phenomenology may be indirectly influenced.…”

Section: Consciousness: Availability and Accessmentioning

confidence: 98%