Revisiting the mental imagery debate: New evidence from aphantasia and neuroimaging

Abstract

In this viewpoint letter, I critically examine the longstanding debate regarding the nature of mental imagery—specifically the tension between depictive and propositional theories—through the lens of recent neuroscientific findings. While early studies using neuroimaging were interpreted as supporting a depictive, perception-like model of visual imagery, emerging data from individuals with aphantasia present compelling counterevidence. These individuals, who report an absence of conscious visual imagery, nonetheless display decodable activity in early visual cortices during imagery-related tasks, prompting a reevaluation of the assumptions linking neural activation in V1 to subjective imagery. I suggest alternatives that support for a single- or a dual-process account of mental representation in the human brain.