Contributed Talk Sessions | Poster Sessions | All Posters | Search Papers

Poster Session C: Friday, August 15, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, de Brug & E‑Hall

Occipital alpha oscillations negatively correlate with the vividness of mental imagery in healthy participants

Aitor Morales-Gregorio¹, Karolína Korvasová; ¹Charles University Prague

Presenter: Aitor Morales-Gregorio

Mental imagery is the ability to evoke visualizations in the absence of external stimuli. Some individuals lack mental imagery (aphantasia), while others have the ability to evoke hyperrealistic imagery (hyperphantasia). The vividness of imagery depends on top-down communication to occipital areas. However, the neuronal correlates of mental imagery are still not fully understood. Here, we found a strong and significant linear correlation between mental imagery and EEG eyes-closed resting-state occipital alpha power. This finding suggests that alpha oscillations may be a biomarker for suppressed communication from occipital to frontal areas leading to less vivid or absent imagery.

Topic Area: Brain Networks & Neural Dynamics

Extended Abstract: Full Text PDF