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The critical role of mental imagery in human emotion: insights from Aphantasia.

Wicken, M.; Keogh, R.; Pearson, J.

2019-08-06 neuroscience
10.1101/726844 bioRxiv
Show abstract

One proposed function of imagery is to make thoughts more emotionally evocative through sensory simulations. Here we report a novel test of this theory utilizing a special population with no visual imagery: Aphantasia. After using multi-method verification of aphantasia, we show that this condition, but not the general population, is associated with a flat-line physiological response to frightening written, but not perceptual scenarios, supporting imagerys critical role in emotion.

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