AbstractSuccessful navigation relies on the ability to identify, perceive, and correctly process the spatial structure of a scene. It is well known that visual mental imagery plays a crucial role in navigation. Indeed, cortical regions encoding navigationally relevant information are also active during mental imagery of navigational scenes. However, it remains unknown whether their intrinsic activity and connectivity reflect the individuals’ ability to imagine a scene. Here, we primarily investigated the intrinsic causal interactions among scene-selective brain regions such as Parahipoccampal Place Area (PPA), Retrosplenial Complex, and Occipital Place Area (OPA) using Dynamic Causal Modelling for resting-state functional magnetic resonance data. Second, we tested whether resting-state effective connectivity parameters among scene-selective regions could reflect individual differences in mental imagery in our sample, as assessed by the self-reported Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire. We found an inhibitory influence of occipito-medial on temporal regions, and an excitatory influence of more anterior on more medial and posterior brain regions. Moreover, we found that a key role in imagery is played by the connection strength from OPA to PPA, especially in the left hemisphere, since the influence of the signal between these scene-selective regions positively correlated with good mental imagery ability. Our investigation contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the causal interaction among brain regions involved in navigation and provides new insight in understanding how an essential ability, such as mental imagery, can be explained by the intrinsic fluctuation of brain signal.

Individual differences in mental imagery modulate effective connectivity of scene-selective regions during resting state / Tullo, Maria Giulia; Almgren, Hannes; Van de Steen, Frederik; Sulpizio, Valentina; Marinazzo, Daniele; Galati, Gaspare. - In: BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. - ISSN 1863-2653. - 227:5(2022), pp. 1831-1842. [10.1007/s00429-022-02475-0]

Individual differences in mental imagery modulate effective connectivity of scene-selective regions during resting state

Maria Giulia Tullo
Primo
;
Valentina Sulpizio;Gaspare Galati
Ultimo
2022

Abstract

AbstractSuccessful navigation relies on the ability to identify, perceive, and correctly process the spatial structure of a scene. It is well known that visual mental imagery plays a crucial role in navigation. Indeed, cortical regions encoding navigationally relevant information are also active during mental imagery of navigational scenes. However, it remains unknown whether their intrinsic activity and connectivity reflect the individuals’ ability to imagine a scene. Here, we primarily investigated the intrinsic causal interactions among scene-selective brain regions such as Parahipoccampal Place Area (PPA), Retrosplenial Complex, and Occipital Place Area (OPA) using Dynamic Causal Modelling for resting-state functional magnetic resonance data. Second, we tested whether resting-state effective connectivity parameters among scene-selective regions could reflect individual differences in mental imagery in our sample, as assessed by the self-reported Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire. We found an inhibitory influence of occipito-medial on temporal regions, and an excitatory influence of more anterior on more medial and posterior brain regions. Moreover, we found that a key role in imagery is played by the connection strength from OPA to PPA, especially in the left hemisphere, since the influence of the signal between these scene-selective regions positively correlated with good mental imagery ability. Our investigation contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the causal interaction among brain regions involved in navigation and provides new insight in understanding how an essential ability, such as mental imagery, can be explained by the intrinsic fluctuation of brain signal.
2022
Dynamic Causal Modelling; fMRI; Imagery; Navigation; Resting-state; Scene-selective regions
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Individual differences in mental imagery modulate effective connectivity of scene-selective regions during resting state / Tullo, Maria Giulia; Almgren, Hannes; Van de Steen, Frederik; Sulpizio, Valentina; Marinazzo, Daniele; Galati, Gaspare. - In: BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. - ISSN 1863-2653. - 227:5(2022), pp. 1831-1842. [10.1007/s00429-022-02475-0]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1649717
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