Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery

Roger Koenig-Robert; Thomas Pace; Joel Pearson

doi:10.1037/rev0000621

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Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery

Roger Koenig-Robert, Thomas Pace and Joel Pearson

Psychological Review, Vol.Advanced access

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000621

PMID: 41973795

Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection

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Abstract

Cognitive neuroscience

visual mental imagery

feedback

neural mechanisms

spontaneous neural activity

visual perception

Thompson Institute Special Collection

Other Collaborations

Recent research has revealed similarities between visual mental imagery and visual perception. Visual imagery is supported by cortical feedback involving multiple visual areas, including the primary visual cortex, and functionally interacts with perception. This has led to the assumption that imagery is "perception in reverse," with feedback connections driving action potentials in early visual areas. However, evidence on feedback mechanisms is mixed, often exerting modulation (often as negative gain control) in sensory areas. Here, we examine and interpret the current understanding of feedback mechanisms related to visual imagery, integrating this with its functional effects and neural correlates. Finally, we put forward a new hypothesis, along with testable predictions, proposing that imagery reshapes spontaneous neural activity rather than producing spiking in early visual areas. This new framework explains many of the properties of visual imagery while providing a better general understanding of feedback and brain function.

Details

Title: Spiking the mind: Rethinking the role of cortical feedback in visual mental imagery
Authors: Roger Koenig-Robert (Corresponding Author) - UNSW Sydney
Thomas Pace (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Joel Pearson (Author) - UNSW Sydney
Publication details: Psychological Review, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000621
ISSN: 1939-1471
PMID: 41973795
Copyright note: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). This license permits copying and redistributing the work in any medium or format, as well as adapting the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Grants: Understanding the role of mental imagery in cognition and behaviour, FT220100388, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Understanding visual working memory: a cognitive strategy framework., DP220100183, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Fighting mental disorders: using mental imagery to disarm symptoms and enhance treatment, 1049596, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - NHMRC
Visual hallucinations: Mechanistic biomarkers and novel treatments, 1085404, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - NHMRC
Controlling intrusive images in psychopathologies: Disarming symptoms and enhancing treatment, 1046198, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - NHMRC
Organisation Unit: Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; Thompson Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991224729002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Psychology; Psychology, Multidisciplinary