Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Domain-General and Domain-Specific Visual Mental Imagery

we aim to elucidate the spatiotemporal architecture of visual mental imagery (VMI) in the human brain. The dynamics of activity of the VMI networks, which we have contributed to delineate (Liu et al., 2023; Spagna et al., 2021, 2024) remain poorly understood, with gaps in knowledge particularly evident for specific domains of VMI, such as the distinct connectivity patterns underlying face imagery and perception. We resort to a spatiotemporally resolved neuroimaging method, magnetoencephalography (MEG), to investigate the dynamics of VMI networks across five domains and theory-driven regions of interest. By utilizing a recently developed battery assessing mental imagery and visual perception of the same items, we seek to contribute to settling the long-standing debate about VMI's neurocognitive architecture. A detailed list of pre-specified outcomes, and robust analysis methods make this study promising to gain a thorough understanding of stimulus-independent perception, with important implications for models of conscious awareness, making it a valuable contribution to contemporary neuroscience.