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The prefrontal cortex is the foremost part of the frontal lobe and controls executive functions such as planning, decision-making, and impulse control. It also initiates and controls mental images.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the evolutionarily youngest brain region and central to higher cognitive functions. It controls working memory, attention, planning, and self-control. During visual imagination, the PFC sends top-down signals to the visual cortex to generate inner images. In aphantasia, this connection appears disrupted or ineffective, although the PFC itself functions normally. Interestingly, aphantasics often show increased PFC activity during visualization tasks, suggesting enhanced conceptual or verbal processing as compensation. The PFC matures into early adulthood, which explains why children often have more vivid mental images. Damage to the PFC can lead to acquired aphantasia.
The visual cortex is the region of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. Located in the back of the head (occipital lobe), it is responsible for both seeing and visual imagination.
Learn moreThe Default Mode Network (DMN) is a network of brain regions active during daydreaming, self-reflection, and mental time travel. It shows altered patterns in people with aphantasia.
Learn moreAphantasia is the inability to voluntarily create mental images. People with aphantasia cannot visualize faces, places, or objects in their mind's eye, although they can recognize and describe them. The term was coined by neurologist Adam Zeman in 2015.
Learn moreTake our scientifically validated VVIQ test and find out where you stand on the visualization spectrum.
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