REOPENING THE MENTAL-IMAGERY DEBATE - LESSONS FROM FUNCTIONAL-ANATOMY

Over the past few years, the neural bases of mental imagery have been both a topic of intense debate and a domain of extensive investigation s using either PET or fMRI that have provided new insights into the co rtical anatomy of this cognitive function, Several studies have in fac t demonstrated that there exist types of mental imagery that do not re ly on primary/early visual areas, whereas a consensus now exists on th e validity of the dorsal/ventral-route model in the imagery domain. Mo re importantly, these studies have provided evidence that, in addition to higher order visual areas, mental imagery shares common brain area s with other major cognitive functions, such as language, memory, and movement, depending on the nature of the imagery task. This body of re cent results indicates that there is no unique mental imagery cortical network; rather, it reflects the high degree of interaction between m ental imagery and other cognitive functions. (C) 1998 Academic Press.