Visual Mental Images in the Brain

Abstract

C onsider the following questions: How many paintings are hanging on the walls of your living room? Are tangerines a darker shade of orange than pumpkins? Does your father part his hair on the left side or on the right side? What shape are George Bush's glasses? Chances are that you used visual mental imagery order to answer these questions. For example, when answering the last question, you probably created an image of George Bush's face and then zoomed in on his glasses to determine their shape. We often use visual mental imagery to help us solve problems and answer questions. It is important to note that visual mental imagery is distinct from visual perception. In imagery, we visualize objects that are not physically present the environment, whereas perception, we see objects that are physically present. Furthermore, we can transform at will objects visual mental images, for example by imagining them rotating, shrinking or growing. The real world is not so cooperative; simply willing an object to change shape will not affect it. Visual mental imagery must also be distinguished from visual memory. When we create images, we may draw on visual memories. For example, when asked about the number of paintings your living room, you probably relied on visual memories of that room and created an image of it. But images are very short-lived, whereas visual memories are more enduring. In addition, although we can create images of things that we have never actually seen before, we cannot have visual memories of things that we have never seen or imaged before.