The representation of conceptual knowledge: visual, auditory, and olfactory imagery compared with semantic processing

fNIRS a novel neuroimaging tool to investigate olfaction, olfactory imagery, and crossmodal interactions: a systematic review

Olfaction is understudied in neuroimaging research compared to other senses, but there is growing evidence of its therapeutic benefits on mood and well-being. Olfactory imagery can provide similar health benefits as olfactory interventions. Harnessing crossmodal visual-olfactory interactions can facilitate olfactory imagery. Understanding and employing these cross-modal interactions between visual and olfactory stimuli could aid in the research and applications of olfaction and olfactory imagery interventions for health and wellbeing. This review examines current knowledge, debates, and research on olfaction, olfactive imagery, and crossmodal visual-olfactory integration. A total of 56 papers, identified using the PRISMA method, were evaluated to identify key brain regions, research themes and methods used to determine the suitability of fNIRS as a tool for studying these topics. The review identified fNIRS-compatible protocols and brain regions within the fNIRS recording depth of approximately 1.5 cm associated with olfactory imagery and crossmodal visual-olfactory integration. Commonly cited regions include the orbitofrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The findings of this review indicate that fNIRS would be a suitable tool for research into these processes. Additionally, fNIRS suitability for use in naturalistic settings may lead to the development of new research approaches with greater ecological validity compared to existing neuroimaging techniques.

Limitations in odour simulation may originate from differential sensory embodiment

Across diverse lineages, animals communicate using chemosignals, but only humans communicate about chemical signals. Many studies have observed that compared with other sensory modalities, communication about smells is relatively rare and not always reliable. Recent cross-cultural studies, on the other hand, suggest some communities are more olfactorily oriented than previously supposed. Nevertheless, across the globe a general trend emerges where olfactory communication is relatively hard. We suggest here that this is in part because olfactory representations are different in kind: they have a low degree of embodiment, and are not easily expressed as primitives, thereby limiting the mental manipulations that can be performed with them. New exploratory data from Dutch children (9-12 year-olds) and adults support that mental imagery from olfaction is weak in comparison with vision and audition, and critically this is not affected by language development. Specifically, while visual and auditory imagery becomes more vivid with age, olfactory imagery shows no such development. This is consistent with the idea that olfactory representations are different in kind from representations from the other senses. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.

Automating the process of identifying the preferred representational system in Neuro Linguistic Programming using Natural Language Processing

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a methodology used for recognition of human behavioral patterns and modification of the behavior. A significant part of this process is influenced by the theory of representational systems which equates to the five main senses. The preferred representational system of an individual can explain a large part of exhibited behaviors and characteristics. There are different methods to recognize the representational systems, one of which is to investigate the sensory-based words in the used language during the conversation. However, there are difficulties during this process since there is not a single reference method used for identification of representational systems and existing ones are subject to human interpretations. Some human errors like lack of experience, personal judgment, different levels of skill and personal mistakes may also affect the accuracy and reliability of the existing methods. This research aims to apply a new approach that is to automate the identification process in order to remove human errors, thereby increasing the accuracy and precision. Natural Language Processing has been used for automating this process, and an intelligent software has been developed to identify the preferred representational system with increased accuracy and reliability. This software has been tested and compared to human identification of representational systems. The results of the software are similar to a NLP practitioner, and the software responds more accurately than a human practitioner in various parts of the process. This novel methodology will assist the NLP practitioners to obtain an improved understanding of their clients' behavioral patterns and the associated cognitive and emotional processes.

The format of mental imagery: from a critical review to an integrated embodied representation approach

The issue of the format of mental imagery is still an open debate. The classical analogue (depictive)-propositional (descriptive) debate has not provided definitive conclusions. Over the years, the debate has shifted within the frame of the embodied cognition approach, which focuses on the interdependence of perception, cognition and action. Although the simulation approach still retains the concept of representation, the more radical line of the embodied cognition approach emphasizes the importance of action and clearly disregards the concept of representation. In particular, the enactive approach focuses on motor procedures that allow the body to interact with the environment, whereas the sensorimotor approach focuses on the possession and exercise of sensorimotor knowledge about how the sensory input changes as a function of movement. In this review, the embodied approaches are presented and critically discussed. Then, in an attempt to show that the format of mental imagery varies according to the ability and the strategy used to represent information, the role of individual differences in imagery ability (e.g., vividness and expertise) and imagery strategy (e.g., object vs. spatial imagers) is reviewed. Since vividness is mainly associated with perceptual information, reflecting the activation level of specific imagery systems, whereas the preferred strategy used is mainly associated with perceptual (e.g., object imagery) or amodal and motor information (e.g., spatial imagery), the format of mental imagery appears to be based on dynamic embodied representations, depending on imagery abilities and imagery strategies.

Object Recognition in Mental Representations: Directions for Exploring Diagnostic Features through Visual Mental Imagery

One of the fundamental goals of object recognition research is to understand how a cognitive representation produced from the output of filtered and transformed sensory information facilitates efficient viewer behavior. Given that mental imagery strongly resembles perceptual processes in both cortical regions and subjective visual qualities, it is reasonable to question whether mental imagery facilitates cognition in a manner similar to that of perceptual viewing: via the detection and recognition of distinguishing features. Categorizing the feature content of mental imagery holds potential as a reverse pathway by which to identify the components of a visual stimulus which are most critical for the creation and retrieval of a visual representation. This review will examine the likelihood that the information represented in visual mental imagery reflects distinctive object features thought to facilitate efficient object categorization and recognition during perceptual viewing. If it is the case that these representational features resemble their sensory counterparts in both spatial and semantic qualities, they may well be accessible through mental imagery as evaluated through current investigative techniques. In this review, methods applied to mental imagery research and their findings are reviewed and evaluated for their efficiency in accessing internal representations, and implications for identifying diagnostic features are discussed. An argument is made for the benefits of combining mental imagery assessment methods with diagnostic feature research to advance the understanding of visual perceptive processes, with suggestions for avenues of future investigation.

Exploring the Cause of English Pronoun Gender Errors by Chinese Learners of English: Evidence from the Self-paced Reading Paradigm

To locate the underlying cause of biological gender errors of oral English pronouns by proficient Chinese-English learners, two self-paced reading experiments were conducted to explore whether the reading time for each 'he' or 'she' that matched its antecedent was shorter than that in the corresponding mismatch situation, as with native speakers of English. The critical manipulation was to see whether highlighting the gender information of an antecedent with a human picture would make a difference. The results indicate that such manipulation did make a difference. Since oral Chinese does not distinguish 'he' and 'she', the findings suggest that Chinese speakers probably do not usually process biological gender for linguistic purposes and the mixed use of 'he' and 'she' is probably a result of deficient processing of gender information in the conceptualizer. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.