Investigating the neural basis of conscious imagery experience

Mental imagery is characterised by two main aspects: a sensory representation and an associated conscious experience. Historically, the latter has been regarded as a necessary component of imagery. However, particularly within neuroimaging research, investigations have predominantly focused on sensory representations, often overlooking the accompanying subjective experience. This is problematic, as recent years have seen growing recognition of substantial individual differences in imagery experiences. Notably, the discovery of aphantasia—the inability to consciously experience mental imagery at will despite intact visual perception—raises important questions about the neural basis of conscious experience during imagery. In this talk, I will present a series of studies in which we investigated the relationship between conscious imagery experience and sensory representations by relying on paradigms that induce them automatically. Together, our findings suggest a dissociation between sensory representation and conscious imagery experience, both of which can be generated voluntarily or involuntarily.