一项发表在《意识与认知》期刊上的新综述研究挑战了想象力的传统理论。1由Derek Arnold、Loren Bouyer、Blake Saurels和Samuel Schwarzkopf撰写的这项综述指出，长期以来将心理图像视为反向视觉感知的观点已不再适用。1研究人员通过研究失想症患者——即无法终身形成视觉、声音、气味、味觉或触觉心理图像的人——发现想象力实际上是由分布在大脑前部到侧面的多个区域协调产生的。1
脑成像研究提供了关键证据支持这一新认识。1研究显示想象力可靠地激活大脑前部和左颞叶下方的梭状回，而主要视觉皮层通常保持安静。1这一发现尤其重要，因为某些因主要视觉皮层广泛损伤而失明的患者仍然能够进行视觉想象。1约四分之一的失想症患者报告完全没有任何想象感觉。1研究人员承认，目前尚无客观的失想症检测方法，诊断依然依赖于自我报告、行为观察和脑扫描的综合。1
A new review published in Consciousness and Cognition challenges the traditional understanding of how imagination works in the human brain.1 Conducted by Derek Arnold, Loren Bouyer, Blake Saurels, and Samuel Schwarzkopf, the research fundamentally rethinks the prevailing theory that mental imagery operates as a reverse form of visual perception.1 By studying individuals with aphantasia—a lifelong neurological condition preventing people from mentally visualizing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or tactile sensations—the researchers discovered that imagination instead emerges from coordinated activity across multiple brain regions spanning the frontal and lateral areas, rather than from a single visual cortex region.1
The findings reveal striking complexities in how the brain generates mental imagery. Brain imaging studies consistently show that imagination reliably activates regions in the front of the brain and the fusiform gyrus located beneath the left temporal lobe, while the primary visual cortex typically remains quiet.1 Adding to the puzzle, some patients who have lost vision due to extensive damage to the primary visual cortex retain the ability to generate visual imagery.1 Among those with aphantasia, approximately one-quarter report experiencing no imaginative sensations whatsoever.1 The research team acknowledges that no objective diagnostic test for aphantasia currently exists, meaning diagnosis depends on a combination of self-reporting, behavioral observation, and brain imaging analysis.1
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