What is mental imagery? Brain researchers explain the pictures in your mind and why they’re useful
- Written by Lynne Gauthier, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Kinesiology, UMass Lowell
Another brain region, located in the very front of the brain, also contributes to mental imagery. This structure, called the prefrontal cortex, is in charge of executive functions[11] – a group of high-level mental skills that allow you to concentrate, plan, organize and reason.
The National Institute of Mental Health via Wikimedia Commons[12]Scientists have found[13] such skills to be, at least to some extent, related to one’s mental imagery ability. If someone is good at holding and manipulating large amounts of information in mind, this person can play with things like numbers or images in their mind on the go.
Experiencing and remembering
Most of the same brain areas are active both while you’re actually experiencing an event and also when you’re visualizing it[14] from a memory in your head. For example, when you behold the beauty of the Grand Canyon, your brain creates a memory of the image. But that memory is not simply stored in a single place in the brain. It’s created when thousands of brain cells across different parts of the brain[15] fire together. Later, when a sound, smell or image triggers the memory, this network of brain cells fires together again, and you may picture the Grand Canyon in your head as clearly as if it were in front of you.
Benefits of mental imagery
The ability to mentally visualize can be helpful[16].
Koki Nagahama/Getty Images Sport via Getty Images[17]Notice the look of concentration on a gymnast’s face before competition. The athlete is likely visualizing themselves executing a perfect rings routine in their mind. This visualization activates the same brain regions[18] as when they physically perform on the rings, building their confidence and priming their brain[19] for better success.
Athletes can use visualization[20] to help them acquire skills more quickly and with less wear and tear on their bodies. Engineers and mechanics can use visualization to help them fix or design things.
Mental visualization can also help people relearn how to move their bodies after a brain injury[21]. However, with additional practice, those who do not use visualization will eventually catch up[22].
Nature-nurture interactions
All is not lost if you have difficulty visualizing. It is possible that the ability to visualize in your mind is a combined effect of both how your individual brain works and your life experiences.
For example, taxi drivers in London need to navigate very complicated streets and, scientists found, experience changes to their brain structures over the course of their careers. In particular, they develop larger hippocampuses[23], a brain structure related to memory. Scientists believe that the training the taxi drivers went through – having to visualize a map of complex streets across London in daily driving – made them better at mental imagery via changes in their hippocampus.
And watching someone else do a physical action activates the same brain areas as creating your own internal mental imagery. If you want to be able to do something, watching a video of someone else doing it can be just as helpful as visualizing yourself doing it in your head[24]. So even if you struggle with mental visualization, there are still ways to reap its benefits.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com[25]. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
References
- ^ Curious Kids (theconversation.com)
- ^ curiouskidsus@theconversation.com (theconversation.com)
- ^ hard at work (doi.org)
- ^ trying to understand (doi.org)
- ^ physical therapy (scholar.google.com)
- ^ psychology (scholar.google.com)
- ^ Mental imagery (plato.stanford.edu)
- ^ primary visual cortex (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- ^ involved in internal visualization (doi.org)
- ^ Coxer via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)
- ^ executive functions (doi.org)
- ^ The National Institute of Mental Health via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)
- ^ Scientists have found (doi.org)
- ^ visualizing it (doi.org)
- ^ thousands of brain cells across different parts of the brain (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- ^ can be helpful (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Koki Nagahama/Getty Images Sport via Getty Images (www.gettyimages.com)
- ^ activates the same brain regions (doi.org)
- ^ priming their brain (doi.org)
- ^ Athletes can use visualization (doi.org)
- ^ after a brain injury (doi.org)
- ^ catch up (doi.org)
- ^ larger hippocampuses (doi.org)
- ^ visualizing yourself doing it in your head (doi.org)
- ^ CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com (theconversation.com)
Authors: Lynne Gauthier, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Kinesiology, UMass Lowell