Decoding Images in the Mind’s Eye: The Temporal Dynamics of Visual Imagery
1
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
2
ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition & Its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
3
Perception in Action Research Centre & Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Vision 2019, 3(4), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/vision3040053
Received: 14 May 2019
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Revised: 20 September 2019
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Accepted: 18 October 2019
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Published: 21 October 2019
Mental imagery is the ability to generate images in the mind in the absence of sensory input. Both perceptual visual processing and internally generated imagery engage large, overlapping networks of brain regions. However, it is unclear whether they are characterized by similar temporal dynamics. Recent magnetoencephalography work has shown that object category information was decodable from brain activity during mental imagery, but the timing was delayed relative to perception. The current study builds on these findings, using electroencephalography to investigate the dynamics of mental imagery. Sixteen participants viewed two images of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and two images of Santa Claus. On each trial, they viewed a sequence of the four images and were asked to imagine one of them, which was cued retroactively by its temporal location in the sequence. Time-resolved multivariate pattern analysis was used to decode the viewed and imagined stimuli. Although category and exemplar information was decodable for viewed stimuli, there were no informative patterns of activity during mental imagery. The current findings suggest stimulus complexity, task design and individual differences may influence the ability to successfully decode imagined images. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of prior findings of mental imagery.
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Keywords:
mental imagery; electroencephalography; MVPA; decoding
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MDPI and ACS Style
Shatek, S.M.; Grootswagers, T.; Robinson, A.K.; Carlson, T.A. Decoding Images in the Mind’s Eye: The Temporal Dynamics of Visual Imagery. Vision 2019, 3, 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/vision3040053
AMA Style
Shatek SM, Grootswagers T, Robinson AK, Carlson TA. Decoding Images in the Mind’s Eye: The Temporal Dynamics of Visual Imagery. Vision. 2019; 3(4):53. https://doi.org/10.3390/vision3040053
Chicago/Turabian StyleShatek, Sophia M., Tijl Grootswagers, Amanda K. Robinson, and Thomas A. Carlson. 2019. "Decoding Images in the Mind’s Eye: The Temporal Dynamics of Visual Imagery" Vision 3, no. 4: 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/vision3040053
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