Vividness of visual imagery questionnaire scores and their relationship to visual short-term memory performance

The Action Cycle Theory of Perception and Mental Imagery

The Action Cycle Theory (ACT) is an enactive theory of the perception and a mental imagery system that is comprised of six modules: Schemata, Objects, Actions, Affect, Goals and Others' Behavior. The evidence supporting these six connected modules is reviewed in light of research on mental imagery vividness. The six modules and their interconnections receive empirical support from a wide range of studies. All six modules of perception and mental imagery are influenced by individual differences in vividness. Real-world applications of ACT show interesting potential to improve human wellbeing in both healthy people and patients. Mental imagery can be applied in creative ways to make new collective goals and actions for change that are necessary to maximize the future prospects of the planet.

Visual imagery skills and risk attitude

Several of Kahneman and Tversky's seminal works in the 1970s found evidence of the importance of framing in decision making under risk. They hypothesized that imaginability (visual imagery ability) may play an important role in the evaluation of subjective probabilities. However, the impact of visual imagery ability on choice under risk has not yet been explored. This is the main purpose of our study. In an online experiment, we collected participants' visual imagery ability using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and their risk attitude using two choice-based risk elicitation tasks. Participants made their risk decisions either in an environment where risk was visualized (visual frame) or not (non-visual frame), and were randomly assigned to one of the two decision frames. Our results suggest that neither visual imagery ability nor decision frame has a substantial impact on risk attitude.

Olfactory metacognition and memory in individuals with different subjective odor imagery abilities

Imagery vividness is one of the key indicators to evaluate the ability to generate mental images. There is large inter-individual variability in olfactory imagery (OI) abilities, however, little is known about the underlying factors for individual OI abilities. Using a word cueing imagery paradigm and the trial-by-trial imagery vividness rating method, participants with high or low OI abilities (differentiated by the Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire) completed two OI tasks with either shorter (2 s) or longer (8 s) image generation time. Participants' olfactory function, olfactory-related working memory and episodic recognition memory were measured using validated methods. Moreover, olfactory metacognition was assessed using the Odor Awareness Scale (OAS) and the Importance of Olfaction Questionnaire (IOQ). Compared to participants with high OI abilities, those with low OI abilities reported less vivid odor images during OI tasks. For participants with low OI abilities, the imagery vividness significantly improved as the image generation time increased. There was no difference regarding olfactory perception or olfactory-related memory performances between the high and the low OI ability groups. However, participants with higher OI abilities had significant higher scores on the OAS and the IOQ, indicating a superior olfactory-related metacognition. These results provide evidences supporting the underlying factors that related to variances of subjective ability of generating vivid odor mental images.

Imaging the Limbic System in Parkinson's Disease-A Review of Limbic Pathology and Clinical Symptoms

The limbic system describes a complex of brain structures central for memory, learning, as well as goal directed and emotional behavior. In addition to pathological studies, recent findings using in vivo structural and functional imaging of the brain pinpoint the vulnerability of limbic structures to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) throughout the disease course. Accordingly, dysfunction of the limbic system is critically related to the symptom complex which characterizes PD, including neuropsychiatric, vegetative, and motor symptoms, and their heterogeneity in patients with PD. The aim of this systematic review was to put the spotlight on neuroimaging of the limbic system in PD and to give an overview of the most important structures affected by the disease, their function, disease related alterations, and corresponding clinical manifestations. PubMed was searched in order to identify the most recent studies that investigate the limbic system in PD with the help of neuroimaging methods. First, PD related neuropathological changes and corresponding clinical symptoms of each limbic system region are reviewed, and, finally, a network integration of the limbic system within the complex of PD pathology is discussed.