Vividness Of Visual Imagery Questionnaire Research Articles

Subregions of the fusiform gyrus are differentially involved in the attentional mechanism supporting visual mental imagery in depression.

Impaired visual mental imagery is an important symptom of depression and has gradually become an intervention target for cognitive behavioral therapy. Our study involved a total of 25 healthy controls (HC) and 23 individuals with moderate depressive symptoms (MD). This study explored the attentional mechanism supporting visual mental imagery impairments in depression using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), attentional network test (ANT), and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). The intrinsic activity of attention-related regions relative to those supporting visual mental imagery was identified in depression patients. In addition, a meta-analysis was used to describe the cognitive function related to this intrinsic activity. The global correlation (GCOR) of the right anterior fusiform gyrus (FG) was decreased in depression patients. Attention-related areas were concentrated in the right posterior FG; the anterior and posterior functional connectivity (FC) of the FG was decreased in depression patients. Graph theoretic analysis showed that the degree of the right anterior FG was decreased, the degree of the anterior insula was increased, and the negative connection between these two regions was strengthened in depression patients. In addition, the degree of the right anterior FG, the FC between the subregions of the right FG, and the FC between the right anterior FG and insula were correlated with VVIQ scores; however, this correlation was not significant in depression patients. The meta-analysis suggested that the changes in the anterior FG in depressed patients may stem from difficulties of semantic memory retrieval. The changed intrinsic activity of subregions of the FG relative to the semantic memory retrieval may be associated with visual mental imagery impairments in depression.

The Development and Evaluation of the Kinesthetic Motor Imagery of Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction Questionnaire (KMI-PFQ) in Spanish Women.

Practitioners have begun using motor imagery (MI) for preventing and treating some pelvic floor disorders. Due to requirements for imagining before performing a MI intervention and because there are few instruments available for assessing this specific ability in the pelvic floor musculature, we sought to develop and test a new MI questionnaire, the Kinesthetic Motor Imagery of Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction Questionnaire (KMI-PFQ). We focused in this study on the development and analysis of the instrument's factorial structure and internal reliability in a participant sample of 162 healthy Spanish women (M age = 20.1, SD = 2.2 years). We developed and evaluated the KMI-PFQ's psychometric properties, finding it to have good internal consistency, with Cronbach's α = .838, ω coefficient = .839, and an intraclass correlation coefficient = .809, with two factors ("ability" and "mental effort") explaining 58.36% of response variance. The standard error of measurement was 3.58, and the minimal detectable change was 9.92. No floor or ceiling effects were identified. There was also good convergent validity as seen by statistically significant positive correlations between KMI-PFQ scores and the revised-Movement Image Questionnaire and Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire. There were no statistically significant correlations between KMI-PFQ scores and the Orientation to Life Questionnaire. The KMI-PFQ is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring kinesthetic ability to feel/imagine pelvic floor muscle contractions in healthy Spanish women.

Revisiting the blind mind: Still no evidence for sensory visual imagery in individuals with aphantasia

The inability to visualise was given the name aphantasia in 2015 by Zeman and colleagues. In 2018 we published research showing that fifteen individuals who self-identified as having aphantasia also demonstrated a lack of sensory visual imagery when undergoing the binocular rivalry imagery paradigm, suggesting more than just a metacognitive difference. Here we update these findings with over fifty participants with aphantasia and show that there is evidence for a lack of sensory imagery in aphantasia. How the binocular rivalry paradigm scores relate to the vividness of visual imagery questionnaire (VVIQ) and how aphantasia can be confirmed is discussed.

The relationship between attention networks and individual differences in visual mental imagery vividness - An EEG study

Previous research has established a strong link between attention and visual mental imagery, but it's remained uncertain whether attention networks influence individual differences in the vividness of visual mental imagery. In our study, we examined 140 participants, assessing the vividness of imagery using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire in both eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. We employed the Attention Network Test, coupled with EEG recording, to characterize three attention sub-networks: alerting, orienting, and executive control. To pinpoint the specific attentional networks associated with the vividness of visual mental imagery, we utilized latent profile analysis to categorize participants into distinct subgroups. Additionally, we constructed a regression mixture model to explore how attention networks predict different latent categories of visual imagery vividness. Our findings revealed that the efficiency of the alerting network, as indicated by the N1 component, demonstrated a positive correlation with the vividness of visual imagery. This electrophysiological evidence underscores the role of the alerting network in shaping individual differences in the vividness of visual mental imagery.

Defining and ‘diagnosing’ aphantasia: Condition or individual difference?

Research into the newly-coined ‘condition’ of ‘aphantasia’, an individual difference involving the self-reported absence of voluntary visual imagery, has taken off in recent years, and more and more people are ‘self-diagnosing’ as aphantasic. Yet, there is no consensus on whether aphantasia should really be described as a ‘condition’, and there is no battery of psychometric instruments to detect or ‘diagnose’ aphantasia. Instead, researchers currently rely on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) to ‘diagnose’ aphantasia. We review here fundamental and methodological problems affecting aphantasia research stemming from an inadequate focus on how we should define aphantasia, whether aphantasia is a pathological condition, and the extensive use of VVIQ as a ‘diagnostic test’ for aphantasia. Firstly, we draw attention to ‘literature blindness’ for visual imagery research from the 1960s–1990s concerning individual differences in visual imagery vividness. Secondly, despite aphantasia being defined as a ‘condition’ where voluntary visual imagery is absent as indicated by the lowest score on the VVIQ, aphantasia studies inconsistently employ samples comprised of a mixture of participants with no visual imagery and low visual imagery, and we argue that this hinders the uncovering of the underlying cause of aphantasia. Thirdly, the scores used to designate the boundary between aphantasia and non-aphantasia are arbitrary and differ between studies, compromising the possibility for cross-study comparison of results. Fourthly, the problems of ‘diagnosing’ aphantasia are not limited to the academic sphere, as one can ‘self-diagnose’ online, for example by using the variant-VVIQ on the Aphantasia Network website. However, the variant-VVIQ departs from the original in ways likely to impact validity and accuracy, which could lead people to falsely believe they have been ‘diagnosed’ with aphantasia by a scientifically-validated measure. Fifthly, we discuss the hypothesis that people who believe they have been ‘diagnosed’ with aphantasia might be vulnerable to health anxiety, distress, and stigma. We conclude with a discussion about some fundamental aspects of how to classify a disorder, and suggest the need for a new psychometric measure of aphantasia.

Diversity of aphantasia revealed by multiple assessments of visual imagery, multisensory imagery, and cognitive style.

Aphantasia-a condition wherein individuals have a reduced or absent construction of voluntary visual imagery-is diagnosed using either the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) or self-identification. However, a significant discrepancy exists between the proportions of aphantasia in the populations assessed using these two criteria. It is unclear why the reported proportions differ excessively and what percentage of people cannot form visual imagery. We investigated the replicability of the proportion of people with aphantasia using both criteria in the same population of participants. Therefore, we explored the potential causes of the discrepancy and characteristics of putative aphantasia in terms of multisensory imagery, cognitive style, and face recognition ability. First, we conducted an online sampling study (Study 1: N = 2,871) using the VVIQ, self-identification of a reduction in visual imagery, Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI), and Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ). We found that 3.7 and 12.1% fulfilled the VVIQ and self-identification criteria, respectively, roughly replicating the proportions reported in previous studies. The self-identification criterion-but not the VVIQ criterion-contains items related to face recognition; hence, we suspected that face recognition ability was factor contributing to this discrepancy and conducted another online sampling study (Study 2: N = 774). We found a significant correlation between VVIQ and face recognition ability in the control group with self-identification, but not in the group defined by low VVIQ (VVIQ ≤32). As the participants in the control group with self-identification tended to exhibit moderately high VVIQ scores but low face recognition ability, we reason that the discrepancy can be partially explained by the contamination of individual differences in face recognition ability. Additional analyses of Study 1 revealed that the aphantasia group included participants who lacked all types of sensory imagery or only visual imagery in multisensory imagery and exhibited a non-specific cognitive style. This study indicates that the VVIQ alone may be insufficient to diagnose individuals who report an inability to form visual imagery. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of multiple assessments-along with the VVIQ-to better understand the diversity of imagery in aphantasia.

Measuring imagery strength in schizophrenia: no evidence of enhanced mental imagery priming.

Recent research shows ambivalent results regarding the relationship between mental imagery and schizophrenia. The role of voluntary visual imagery in schizophrenic hallucinations remains unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between visual imagery, schizophrenia, and the occurrence of schizophrenic hallucinations using an objective visual imagery task. The sample consisted of 16 participants with schizophrenia (59.1% female; MAge =45.55) and 44 participants without schizophrenia (62.5% female; MAge =43.94). Visual imagery was measured using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) as well as the well-validated Binocular Rivalry Task (BRT). Occurrences of hallucinations were assessed using the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale. Participants with schizophrenia showed more hallucinatory experiences but did not score higher on either the VVIQ or the BRT than participants without schizophrenia. A correlation between the VVIQ and the BRT was found, validating the measurement of visual imagery and enabling the interpretation that visual imagery vividness is not enhanced in people with schizophrenia. The association between mental imagery vividness and schizophrenia found in previous studies may be based on other facets of mental imagery than visual imagery.

Effectiveness of the ability to form mental images in Müller-Lyer optical illusions.

The purpose of this study was to establish whether wing length and the ability to form spatial mental images and vivid images affected optical illusions obtained in the Müller-Lyer figures, both real and imagined. The study involved a group of 137 fine arts college students who were shown two forms of the Müller-Lyer figures with different wing length (15 and 45 mm). In the imagined situation, a plain horizontal line was presented, and participants were expected to imagine the arrowheads aligned in the same way as in the real situation. Discrepancies in the perception of the horizontal lines in the Müller-Lyer illusion ("Point of Subjective Equality") were measured both in the real and imagined situation. Participants were then asked to complete the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and the Measure of the Ability to Form Spatial Mental Imagery. It emerged that, in the condition of 45 mm wing length, participants were significantly more susceptible to the illusion than those in the condition of 15 mm wing length. Additionally, in the real situation, participants scoring high in spatial image were significantly more resistant to the illusion than those scoring low.

Validation of the Hispanic American Version of the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (psi-q): A Culturally Adapted Measure of Multisensory Mental Imagery

Mental imagery is increasingly recognized to play a key role in psychotherapy, education, and other domains. The Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (psi-q) measures the vividness of mental imagery in seven modalities: vision, sound, smell, taste, touch, bodily sensations, and feelings. This study adapted the psi-q for Hispanic-American respondents in Colombia and explored moderators of imagery vividness. Study 1 validated the original psi-q (short version) in a sample of 292 Colombian university students. Study 2 developed and validated a cultural adaptation of the psi-q with 508 Colombian adults from the general population. The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-2 (vviq-2) was used to analyze convergent validity in both samples. Thus we propose a new 29-item Hispanic-American version of the psi-q, adapted to cultural differences in the region, that displays good reliability and convergent validity. Imagery vividness was higher in females and at higher education levels. Higher cross-loadings between senses occurred in this sample, which may reflect cultural differences in somatization.

Is it really empathy? The potentially confounding role of mental imagery in self-reports of empathy

Empathy refers to an individual’s responses to the experiences of others. We hypothesised that mental imagery is related to self-reported empathy if assessed with verbal empathy questionnaires or vignettes and that this association disappears when visual tests are used. In study 1, we examined the association between imagery vividness and empathy in a large-scale sample (N = 2,232) using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. In study 2, we used an experimental extreme group approach, contrasting the responses of participants with aphantasia (=imagery-absence) (N = 112) and controls (N = 120) to pictorial and parallelised verbal scenarios. Both studies confirmed that mental imagery ability is positively associated with empathy when verbal material is used but not when visual material is used.

Supplemental Material for A Multifactorial Model of Visual Imagery and Its Relationship to Creativity and the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire

Supplemental Material for A Multifactorial Model of Visual Imagery and Its Relationship to Creativity and the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire

A multifactorial model of visual imagery and its relationship to creativity and the vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire.

A multifactorial model of visual imagery and its relationship to creativity and the vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire.

Effect of skill proficiency on motor imagery ability between amateur dancers and non-dancers.

Evidence has shown that athletes with high motor skill proficiency possess higher motor imagery ability than those with low motor skill proficiency. However, less is known whether this superiority in motor imagery ability emerges over amateur athletes. To address the issue, the present study aimed to investigate the individual differences in motor imagery ability between amateur dancers and non-dancers. Forty participants completed a novel dance movement reproduction task and measures of the vividness of visual imagery questionnaire (VVIQ) and the vividness of motor imagery questionnaire (VMIQ). The results showed that, relative to non-dancers, amateur dancers had higher ability of motor imagery to reproduce the lower-limb and upper-limb dance movements during the dance movement reproduction task. Besides, amateur dancers displayed higher abilities of the visual motor imagery and the kinesthetic imagery, but comparable visual imagery ability as the non-dancers. These findings suggest that the mental representation of motors but not the visual is affected by the motor skill levels, due to the motor imagery practice in sports amateurs.

How Vivid Is Your Mental Imagery?

Abstract: Across five studies (total N > 3,600), we report the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ-2PL). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a unidimensional structure of this instrument; measurement invariance concerning participants’ gender was established as well. The VVIQ-2PL showed excellent test-retest reliability, high internal consistency, and adequate construct validity. As predicted, art students scored significantly higher in visual mental imagery than the non-artist group. We discuss these findings alongside future research directions and possible modifications of VVIQ-2PL.

Visual imagery vividness declines across the lifespan

The capacity to elicit vivid visual mental images varies within an extensive range across individuals between hyper- and aphantasia. It is not clear, however, whether imagery vividness is constant across the lifespan or changes during development and later in life. Without enforcing the constraints of strict experimental procedures and representativity across the entire population, our purpose was to explore the self-reported level of imagery vividness and determine the relative proportions of aphantasic/hyperphantasic participants in different age groups. Relying on the frequently used Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, we collected data on a random sample of 2252 participants between the ages of 12–60 years. We found a novel developmental pattern that describes a declining ability to elicit vivid visual mental images in the group averages of different age groups from adolescence to middle age. This effect involves both a decreasing proportion of individuals with vivid visual imagery vividness and an increasing proportion of individuals with low imagery vividness as maturation (based on bone age assessments in adolescents) and ageing progress. These findings may shed some light on the developmental mechanisms of our internal, stimulus-independent processes, and might also help to determine genetic, maturational, and age-dependent factors in the cases of hyper- and aphantasia.

130  Does visual imagery vividness have a genetic basis? A genome-wide associa- tion study of 1019 individuals

The vividness of visual imagery varies widely between individuals and its extremes are associated with prosopagnosia and synaesthesia. A complete lack of visual imagery, recently termed aphantasia, is typically present from birth and is more common in those with affected family members. It is therefore postulated that there is a genetic component to the variation in visual imagery vividness. To try and identify genetic variants associated with visual imagery vividness we performed a genome-wide association study of 1019 individuals in the Exeter 10000 cohort. Participants who had previously been genotyped were then asked to complete the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). We did not identify any variants that reached the genome-wide significance p<5x10–8 level. However, 2 variants in linkage disequilibrium were below the p<5x10–7 level and lie within an intron of the SYT1 gene which encodes a protein important in neuronal synaptic transmission. There were no significant genetic correlations with VVIQ and other publicly available traits. Further work should focus on using larger cohorts which will have greater power to identify variants which account for smaller amounts of VIVQ variance. This would also determine whether the SYT1 variant is truly significant.jacobday@doctors.org.uk

Individual differences in mental imagery modulate effective connectivity of scene-selective regions during resting state

Successful navigation relies on the ability to identify, perceive, and correctly process the spatial structure of a scene. It is well known that visual mental imagery plays a crucial role in navigation. Indeed, cortical regions encoding navigationally relevant information are also active during mental imagery of navigational scenes. However, it remains unknown whether their intrinsic activity and connectivity reflect the individuals’ ability to imagine a scene. Here, we primarily investigated the intrinsic causal interactions among scene-selective brain regions such as Parahipoccampal Place Area (PPA), Retrosplenial Complex, and Occipital Place Area (OPA) using Dynamic Causal Modelling for resting-state functional magnetic resonance data. Second, we tested whether resting-state effective connectivity parameters among scene-selective regions could reflect individual differences in mental imagery in our sample, as assessed by the self-reported Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire. We found an inhibitory influence of occipito-medial on temporal regions, and an excitatory influence of more anterior on more medial and posterior brain regions. Moreover, we found that a key role in imagery is played by the connection strength from OPA to PPA, especially in the left hemisphere, since the influence of the signal between these scene-selective regions positively correlated with good mental imagery ability. Our investigation contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the causal interaction among brain regions involved in navigation and provides new insight in understanding how an essential ability, such as mental imagery, can be explained by the intrinsic fluctuation of brain signal.

Abstract- Poster

Background:Intrusive imagery is one of the prominent features in persons with OCD. Also, these patients show high anxiety and disgust sensitivity, preoccupation with OCD thoughts, images and urges, and higher scores on contentiousness factor of personality.Aim:The present study is designed with an aim to explore and correlate vividness of visual imagery, absorption, sensory processing sensitivity and personality factors in persons with OCD.Material and Method:30 persons with a diagnosis of OCD will be taken from outpatient department of Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra and other facilities. Following tools will be individually administered on them. (1) Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) (2) Tellegen Absorption Scale (Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974), Highly Sensitive Person Scale (Aron and Aron, 1997) and NEO-FFI-3 (Mccrae & Costa, 2004).Results:The data will be subjected to correlational analysis and to be shared during presentation.

The prevalence of aphantasia (imagery weakness) in the general population

Visual mental imagery is the ability to create a quasi-perceptual visual picture in the mind’s eye. For people with the rare trait of aphantasia, this ability is entirely absent or markedly impaired. Here, we aim to clarify the prevalence of aphantasia in the general population, while overcoming limitations of previous research (e.g., recruitment biases). In Experiment 1, we screened a cohort of undergraduate students (n502) using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) and found that 4.2% had aphantasia. To establish the reliability of our estimate, we then screened a new sample of people (n502) at an online crowdsourcing marketplace, again finding that approximately four percent (3.6%) had aphantasia. Overall, our combined prevalence from over a thousand people of 3.9% – which shows no gender bias – provides a useful index for how commonly aphantasia occurs, based on measures and diagnostic thresholds in line with contemporary aphantasia literature.

#3112 Acquired aphantasia in 88 cases: a preliminary report

AimsFor most of us, visual imagery is a fundamental feature of day-to-day subjective experience. It is thought to play multiple cognitive roles.1 However, there is widespread variation in the subjective intensity of visual imagery, ranging from extreme vividness to complete absence. The term aphantasia was coined recently to describe the latter, which is usually lifelong. While rarer, cases of acquired aphantasia can provide mechanistic insight. Isolated cases have long been reported,2 with some attempts at theoretical synthesis.3 4 We give a preliminary description of 88 such cases identified from among ~14,000 people contacting us in the wake of publicity surrounding Aphantasia.MethodsCases were selected from individuals contacting us spontaneously reporting reduced or absent intensity of visual imagery. Contacts were asked to complete two measures of visual imagery, the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) and Imagery Questionnaire (IQ).5ResultsCases were divided into those in with a strong probability of a neurological cause (n=39), a psychological cause (n=20) and those about which we cannot yet be confident (n=29). Functional aphantasia appears likely to account for some of the cases in the third category. The commonest precipitating events were head injury (n=19), affective disorder (n=17) and stroke (n=13). Other causes included surgery (postoperative) (n=7), drugs (n=6), infectious or inflammatory disease (n=3), neurodegenerative disease (n=3), and seizure disorders (n=2). For subjects completing the VVIQ (n=29), the mean score was 20.1/80 (range 16-32,) indicating marked reduction of imagery vividness. Localizable lesions were predominantly right sided (n=6) and occurred in posterior cortical areas, particularly occipital and parietal, as well as two cases associated with damage to temporal cortex. Some cases reported other impairments, including impaired memory (n=12), prosopagnosia (n=5) and navigational difficulties (n=2). Of cases who reported on their dreams (n=28), around half had lost visual dreaming, a third had preserved visual dreaming and the remainder had visual dreaming of reduced intensity.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the largest reported case series of acquired loss of visual imagery. Both neurological and psychological disorders can be responsible for acquired aphantasia. Our series includes cases of probable functional aphantasia. Further detailed analysis of these cases is required.References Pearson. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2019;20:624634. Zago, et al. Cognit. Neuropsychiatry 2011;16:481504. Farah. Cognition 1984;18:245272. Bartolomeo. Cortex 2002;38:357378. Zeman, et al. Cortex 2020;130:426440.