Frontiers Research Topics: Mental Imagery

Summary

This collection of research and review articles examines the cognitive, behavioral, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying mental imagery across various sensory modalities and cognitive domains. Edited by Joel Pearson and Stephen M. Kosslyn, the volume features empirical studies, neuroimaging investigations (fMRI, ERP, MEG, TMS), and theoretical perspectives exploring the intersections of visual, auditory, and motor imagery with perception, working memory, metacognition, and neural plasticity. Key topics include hemispheric lateralization, the Perky effect, the trainability of imagery metacognition, cross-modal memory, motor command inhibition, 3D immersive spatial cognition, and specialized abilities such as abacus mental calculation.

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frontiers RESEARCH TOPICS

MENTAL IMAGERY

Topic Editors Joel Pearson and Stephen M. Kosslyn

frontiers in PSYCHOLOGY frontiers in HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE

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ISSN 1664-8714 ISBN 978-2-88919-149-9 DOI 10.3389/978-2-88919-149-9 July 2013 | Mental Imagery | 1

Topic Overview: Mental Imagery

MENTAL IMAGERY Topic Editors: Joel Pearson, The University of New South Wales, Australia Stephen M. Kosslyn, Stanford University, USA

Our ability to be conscious of the world around us is often discussed as one of the most amazing yet enigmatic processes under scientific investigation today. However, our ability to imagine the world around us in the absence of stimulation from that world is perhaps even more amazing. This capacity to experience objects or scenarios through imagination, that do not necessarily exist in the world, is perhaps one of the fundamental abilities that allows us successfully to think about, plan, run a dress rehearsal of future events, re-analyze past events and even simulate or fantasize abstract events that may never happen.

Empirical research into mental imagery has seen a recent surge, due partly to the development of new neuroscientific methods and their clever application, but also due to the increasing discovery and application of more objective methods to investigate this inherently internal and private process.

As this topic is being cross-hosted in both Frontiers in Human Neuroscience and Frontiers in Perception Science, we invite researchers from different fields to submit opinionated but balanced reviews, new empirical, theoretical, philosophical or technical papers covering any aspect of mental imagery. In particular, we encourage submissions focusing on different sensory modalities, such as olfaction, audition somatosensory etc. Similarly, we support submissions focusing on the relationship between mental imagery and other neural and cognitive functions or disorders such as visual working memory, visual search or disorders of anxiety.

Together, we hope that collecting a group of papers on this research topic will help to unify theory while providing an overview of the state of the field, where it is heading, and how mental imagery relates to other cognitive and sensory functions. July 2013 | Mental Imagery | 2

Table of Contents

05 Mental Imagery Joel Pearson and Stephen M. Kosslyn

06 Hemispheric Differences within the Fronto-Parietal Network Dynamics Underlying Spatial Imagery Alexander T. Sack and Teresa Schuhmann

16 Unmasking the Perky Effect: Spatial Extent of Image Interference on Visual Acuity Adam Reeves and Catherine Craver-Lemley

23 Training Visual Imagery: Improvements of Metacognition, But not Imagery Strength Rosanne L. Rademaker and Joel Pearson

34 New Percepts via Mental Imagery? Fred W. Mast, Elisa M. Tartaglia and Michael H. Herzog

39 An Emerging Paradigm: A Strength-Based Approach to Exploring Mental Imagery Tadhg E. MacIntyre, Aidan P. Moran, Christian Collet and Aymeric Guillot

51 Vividness of Visual Imagery and Incidental Recall of Verbal Cues, When Phenomenological Availability Reflects Long-Term Memory Accessibility Amedeo D’Angiulli, Matthew Runge, Andrew Faulkner, Jila Zakizadeh, Aldrich Chan and Selvana Morcos

69 The Effects of Visual Imagery on Face Identification: An Erp Study Jianhui Wu, Hongxia Duan, Xing Tian, Peipei Wang and Kan Zhang

77 Electrophysiological Potentials Reveal Cortical Mechanisms for Mental Imagery, Mental Simulation, and Grounded (Embodied) Cognition Haline E. Schendan and Giorgio Ganis

99 A Cross-Modal Perspective on the Relationships Between Imagery and Working Memory Lora T. Likova

113 Verbal to Visual Code Switching Improves Working Memory in Older Adults: An fMRI Study Mariko Osaka, Yuki Otsuka and Naoyuki Osaka

121 Mental Imagery for Musical Changes in Loudness Freya Bailes, Laura Bishop, Catherine J. Stevens and Roger T. Dean

130 Imagining is Not Doing but Involves Specific Motor Commands: A Review of Experimental Data Related to Motor Inhibition Aymeric Guillot, Franck Di Rienzo, Tadhg MacIntyre, Aidan Moran and Christian Collet

152 Mental Imagery of Speech: Linking Motor and Perceptual Systems Through Internal Simulation and Estimation Xing Tian and David Poeppel

163 Effect of Biomechanical Constraints in the Hand Laterality Judgment Task: Where Does It Come from? Gilles Vannuscorps, Agnesa Pillon and Michael Andres

172 Understanding Immersivity: Image Generation and Transformation Processes in 3D Immersive Environments Maria Kozhevnikov and Rupali P. Dhond

182 Abacus in the Brain: A Longitudinal Functional MRI Study of a Skilled Abacus User with a Right Hemispheric Lesion Satoshi Tanaka, Keiko Seki, Takashi Hanakawa, Madoka Harada, Sho K. Sugawara, Norihiro Sadato, Katsumi Watanabe and Manabu Honda

July 2013 | Mental Imagery | 3-4

Editorial: Mental imagery

EDITORIAL published: 23 April 2013 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00198

Mental imagery Joel Pearson 1* and Stephen M. Kosslyn 2 1 School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2 Minerva University, San Francisco, CA, USA *Correspondence: [email protected] Edited and Reviewed by: Philippe G. Schyns, University of Glasgow, UK

Our capacity to re-experience objects or scenarios that we’ve encountered before, and to notice new things about those experiences, is itself remarkable. But perhaps more remarkable still is our ability to experience objects or events that do not exist in the world, through our imagination. This is perhaps one of the fundamental abilities that allow us successfully to plan, run dress rehearsals of future events, re-analyze the past—and even simulate or fantasize events that may never happen. In short, it could be argued that this ability is one of the main factors that have allowed us as a species to dominate our planet so profoundly.

Empirical research into mental imagery has seen a recent surge, which is partly a result of new neuroscientific methods and their clever application—but is also due to the discovery and application of additional sorts of objective methods to investigate this inherently internal and private process.

Here we introduce an inspiringly broad range of work that focuses on mental imagery. This ebook contains the work from a broad range of researchers in different fields, both empirical work and reviews. Chapters range from the role of imagery in music, biomechanics, and mathematics to the functions of the cerebral hemispheres in imagery and imagery’s effects on sensory perception.

This collection provides a cohesive and broad-spectrum addition to the rapidly growing field of mental imagery. This set of articles provides theoretical insights and an overview of the state of empirical understanding, where it is heading, and how mental imagery relates to other cognitive and sensory functions.

Received: 24 March 2013; accepted: 02 April 2013; published online: 23 April 2013. Citation: Pearson J and Kosslyn SM (2013) Mental imagery. Front. Psychol. 4:198. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00198 Copyright © 2013 Pearson and Kosslyn.

Hemispheric differences within the fronto-parietal network dynamics underlying spatial imagery

REVIEW ARTICLE published: 28 June 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00214

Authors: Alexander T. Sack* and Teresa Schuhmann Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Spatial imagery refers to the inspection and evaluation of spatial features (e.g., distance, relative position, configuration) and/or the spatial manipulation (e.g., rotation, shifting, reorienting) of mentally generated visual images. In the past few decades, psychophysical as well as functional brain imaging studies have indicated that any such processing of spatially coded information and/or manipulation based on mental images (i) is subject to similar behavioral demands and limitations as in the case of spatial processing based on real visual images, and (ii) consistently activates several nodes of widely distributed cortical networks in the brain. These nodes include areas within both the dorsal fronto-parietal as well as ventral occipito-temporal visual processing pathway, representing the “what” versus “where” aspects of spatial imagery. We here describe evidence from functional brain imaging and brain interference studies indicating systematic hemispheric differences within the dorsal fronto-parietal networks during the execution of spatial imagery. Importantly, such hemispheric differences and functional lateralization principles are also found in the effective brain network connectivity within and across these networks, with a direction of information flow from anterior frontal/premotor regions to posterior parietal cortices. In an attempt to integrate these findings of hemispheric lateralization and fronto-to-parietal interactions, we argue that spatial imagery constitutes a multifaceted cognitive construct that can be segregated in several distinct mental sub processes, each associated with activity within specific lateralized fronto-parietal (sub) networks, forming the basis of the here proposed dynamic network model of spatial imagery.

Key Concepts & Proposed Network Model:

Dual-stream segregation: Ventral (what/content: EVC, IT, IO, PHG) vs. Dorsal (where/spatial: SPL, IPS, MFG, DLPFC, FEF, PMC, Precuneus, SMA).
Hemispheric lateralization: Left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) underlies the generation of mental representations from memory, whereas right PPC subserves spatial operations/comparisons.
Dynamic connectivity & top-down flow: Sensory signals project to bilateral PMC then medial dorsal PC. Information flows from anterior frontal/premotor areas to posterior parietal cortices, orchestrated by mesial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) to integrate ‘what’ and ‘where’ streams, while late PMC-PFC connectivity maintains manipulated items in working memory.

Unmasking the Perky effect: spatial extent of image interference on visual acuity

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 15 August 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00296

Authors: Adam Reeves 1* and Catherine Craver-Lemley 2 1 Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA 2 Department of Psychology, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA, USA *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Visual mental images interfere with visual percepts (the “Perky effect”). While earlier work suggested that imagery interference operates over a wider spatial and temporal extent than real line masking and is insensitive to relative orientation, this study evaluated whether contrast matching accounts for these differences. When real lines and imagined lines are matched in contrast, their interference effects exhibit very similar spatial extents. Experiment 1 demonstrated that real matched gray lines reduce vernier acuity similarly to imagined lines across spatial distances (ON, CLOSE, FAR). Experiment 2 showed that contrast polarity (black vs. white imagined lines) does not alter the Perky effect magnitude. Experiment 3 demonstrated “unmasking” in imagery: imagining eight lines (ALL-8: combining ON and FAR) yielded less interference (7.8% reduction) than imagining four inner lines alone (ON: 14.2% reduction), indicating that distant imagined elements can inhibit local mask interference.

Training visual imagery: improvements of metacognition, but not imagery strength

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 10 July 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00224

Authors: Rosanne L. Rademaker 1,2,3* and Joel Pearson 2,3,4 1 Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands 2 Psychology Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA 3 Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA 4 School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: This study investigated whether visual imagery strength and metacognition can improve through training. Participants imagined colored Gabor patterns for 1 hour daily across five consecutive days, with a follow-up test 2–3 weeks later. Imagery strength was objectively measured using binocular rivalry perceptual bias, while subjective ratings of vividness and effort were recorded trial-by-trial. Key Findings:

Training did not increase overall imagery strength (perceptual bias remained unchanged across sessions).
Metacognitive ability significantly improved: type II ROC sensitivity (Aroc) demonstrated that trial-by-trial vividness ratings became increasingly predictive of subsequent rivalry dominance over the training course, an effect preserved at follow-up.
Self-reported effort did not predict perceptual bias, confirming specificity to introspective vividness.
Imagery strength and metacognitive ability are dissociable and independent cognitive constructs.

New percepts via mental imagery?

REVIEW ARTICLE published: 02 October 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00360

Authors: Fred W. Mast 1,2*, Elisa M. Tartaglia 3,4 and Michael H. Herzog 3 1 Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 2 Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 3 Laboratory of Psychophysics, Brain and Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland 4 Laboratory of Neurophysics and Physiology, Université René Descartes, Paris, France *Correspondence: [email protected]

Summary: Can mental imagery lead to genuinely new percepts? While humans can discover new interpretations of ambiguous figures via mental rotation or combination (e.g., combining ‘D’ and ‘J’ to see an umbrella), such discoveries operate within existing generative models. Recent studies show that mental imagery can drive perceptual learning: imagining the central line in a bisection task improves subsequent perceptual offset discrimination. However, this learning requires external reference frames (such as outer flanking lines). Imagery computes second-order properties within vast combinatorial spaces without adding novel sensory primitives, demonstrating that while imagery generates new percepts within known models, model-free generation requires physical perceptual experience.

An emerging paradigm: a strength-based approach to exploring mental imagery

REVIEW ARTICLE published: 01 April 2013 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00104

Authors: Tadhg E. MacIntyre 1*, Aidan P. Moran 2, Christian Collet 3 and Aymeric Guillot 3 1 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland 2 School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Ireland 3 Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France *Correspondence: [email protected]

Summary: Traditional mental imagery research has predominantly utilized deficit-based approaches or general student samples. This paper advocates for a “strength-based approach” focusing on high-ability expert performers (e.g., elite athletes, professional dancers, musicians). Rooted in the expert performance framework and ecological validity, this approach investigates domain-specific mechanisms of motor cognition, mental practice, mental chronometry (‘mental travel’), dynamic imagery, multi-sensory integration, and meta-imagery (knowledge, monitoring, and control of one’s own imagery processes).

Vividness of visual imagery and incidental recall of verbal cues

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 04 February 2013 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00001

Authors: Amedeo D’Angiulli 1*, Matthew Runge, Andrew Faulkner, Jila Zakizadeh, Aldrich Chan and Selvana Morcos Neuroscience of Imagery, Cognition, and Emotion Research Lab, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Investigated the relationship between visual mental image vividness and unexpected (incidental) free recall of verbal cues. In Experiment 1, trial-by-trial vividness ratings for imagery elicited by controlled noun cues strongly predicted incidental recall 30 min later (accounting for 74% of recall variance), whereas image latency and individual differences had modest or null effects. Ex-Gaussian distribution analysis demonstrated that higher vividness was associated with faster image generation. Experiment 2 and a meta-analysis showed that trial-by-trial state vividness operates independently of trait questionnaires (VVIQ2). Results support Multiple Trace Theory (MMT), indicating vividness reflects the availability and consolidation of sensory memory traces.

The effects of visual imagery on face identification: an ERP study

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 08 November 2012 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00305

Authors: Jianhui Wu 1*, Hongxia Duan 1,2, Xing Tian 3, Peipei Wang 4 and Kan Zhang 1 1 Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 2 University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 3 Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA 4 Center for Higher Brain Functions, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Tested whether mental imagery modulates subsequent face identification at an early perceptual stage or a later matching stage using event-related potentials (ERPs). Behaviorally, imagining a congruent face facilitated identification speed, whereas mismatching imagery caused interference. Electrophysiologically, early visual potentials (P1 and N170) were unaffected by imagery congruency. In contrast, fronto-central N2 (250–350 ms) amplitude was significantly larger for mismatch and no-imagery conditions compared to match conditions. This demonstrates that in visual identification tasks, imagery-perception interactions occur at a post-perceptual matching stage where bottom-up input meets top-down templates.

Electrophysiological potentials reveal cortical mechanisms for mental imagery, mental simulation, and grounded (embodied) cognition

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 14 September 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00329

Authors: Haline E. Schendan 1,2* and Giorgio Ganis 1,2,3 1 School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK 2 Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH, Charlestown, MA, USA 3 Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Evaluated the multi-state interactive (MUSI) account and grounded cognition theory by recording ERPs to face and object pictures preceded by mental imagery or perception. Congruous mental imagery facilitated categorical perception (VPP/N170), modulated the visual knowledge N3(00) complex (200–400 ms) and linguistic N400 (300–500 ms), and modulated the Late Positive Complex (LPC, 500–700 ms). Parietal P3 peaked earlier for congruous imagery. In contrast, repeated perception produced adaptation for faces but priming for objects. Results provide direct neurophysiological evidence that top-down mental imagery creates modal representations that mimic perception, supporting automatic mental simulation between 200–400 ms and strategic simulation between 400–700 ms.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 18 January 2013 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00561

Author: Lora T. Likova* The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Investigated the neural substrates of working memory (WM) and visual imagery using an fMRI Drawing-Based Memory Paradigm in blindfolded sighted individuals trained via the Cognitive-Kinesthetic Method to draw complex objects from tactile memory. Memory-guided drawing elicited robust, isolated activation in primary visual cortex (V1) accompanied by massive deactivation of the entire extrastriate visual hierarchy. This response pattern is the inverse of top-down visual imagery propagation, refuting visual imagery as the mediator and demonstrating that V1 operates as an amodal, modality-independent spatial sketchpad/buffer in working memory.

Verbal to visual code switching improves working memory in older adults: an fMRI study

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 20 February 2012 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00024

Authors: Mariko Osaka 1, Yuki Otsuka 2 and Naoyuki Osaka 2* 1 Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan 2 Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Investigated whether training older adults (aged 63+) to switch from verbal rehearsal to visual imagery improves working memory in the Reading Span Test (RST). The training group showed significant improvements in recognition accuracy and faster reaction times. Pre- and post-training fMRI showed increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral inferior parietal lobules (IPL), and right superior parietal lobule (SPL) during the encoding phase. Results indicate that verbal-to-visual code switching recruits compensatory attentional and visuospatial subsystems (inner scribe/visual cache) to alleviate age-related working memory decline.

Mental imagery for musical changes in loudness

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 03 December 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00525

Authors: Freya Bailes 1*, Laura Bishop, Catherine J. Stevens and Roger T. Dean MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Investigated the cognitive representations of dynamic musical loudness changes (crescendi/decrescendi) using an interference paradigm. Musicians memorized loudness-modulated scales and performed a continuous recall task using a slider following four distractor conditions: nil control, tone sequences (auditory), letter strings (verbal), and conductor gestures (visuo-motor). Continuous tracking analyzed via Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) demonstrated that only the conductor gesture distractor significantly impaired loudness recall. Results provide evidence that mental imagery for musical loudness changes is grounded in motor representations of physical force and effort.

REVIEW ARTICLE published: 05 September 2012 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00247

Authors: Aymeric Guillot 1,2*, Franck Di Rienzo 1, Tadhg MacIntyre 3, Aidan Moran 4 and Christian Collet 1 1 CRIS, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France 2 Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France 3 University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland 4 University College Dublin, Ireland *Correspondence: [email protected]

Summary: Reviews behavioral, electromyographic (EMG), TMS, and neuroimaging evidence demonstrating that motor imagery (MI) involves the generation of specific motor commands accompanied by central and peripheral inhibitory mechanisms. EMG studies demonstrate task-specific subliminal muscle contractions, while TMS shows effector-specific corticospinal facilitation kept below motor execution threshold. Clinical observations in stroke patients, amputees, spinal cord injury (SCI), and Parkinson’s disease (PD) further elucidate how motor execution is suppressed. The authors propose three potential routes of motor command inhibition: (1) intrinsic subthreshold command generation, (2) progressive upstream central cortical attenuation (involving SMA, prefrontal, parietal, and cerebellar regions), and (3) downstream brainstem and spinal inhibition.

Mental imagery of speech: linking motor and perceptual systems through internal simulation and estimation

REVIEW ARTICLE published: 28 November 2012 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00314

Authors: Xing Tian* and David Poeppel Poeppel Lab, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA *Correspondence: [email protected]

Summary: Proposes a dual-route framework for inducing mental images: memory retrieval (direct simulation) and motor simulation with sequential perceptual estimation. Focusing on articulation imagery (imagined speech), MEG evidence demonstrates a sequential cascade where motor plans generate somatosensory predictions in parietal cortex (~150-170 ms), which subsequently drive auditory predictions in superior temporal cortex. This internal forward model framework explains normal sensory-motor integration and provides mechanistic insights into clinical disorders, including auditory hallucinations (intact efference copy prediction but broken corollary discharge source monitoring), stuttering (noisy estimation and erroneous corrective signaling), and phantom limb pain (mismatch between intact internal estimation and absent sensory feedback).

Effect of biomechanical constraints in the hand laterality judgment task: where does it come from?

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 01 November 2012 doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00299

Authors: Gilles Vannuscorps 1,2*, Agnesa Pillon 1,2 and Michael Andres 2,3 1 Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium 2 FNRS, Brussels, Belgium 3 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Investigated the origin of biomechanical constraint effects in the Hand Laterality Judgment (HLJ) task by testing DC, an individual with congenital bilateral upper limb aplasia without phantom limb experiences. DC performed as rapidly and accurately as normally limbed controls, showing the classical three-way interaction (laterality × posture × angle), the medial-over-lateral advantage (MOLA), and strong correlation with motor awkwardness rather than visual familiarity. These findings demonstrate that biomechanical constraint effects in HLJ tasks do not strictly depend on motor simulation/imagery, but can arise from high-level visual perceptual representations encoding the biomechanical properties of the human body.

Understanding immersivity: image generation and transformation processes in 3D immersive environments

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 10 August 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00284

Authors: Maria Kozhevnikov 1,2* and Rupali P. Dhond 2 1 National University of Singapore, Singapore 2 Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Investigated 3D visual-spatial mental rotation (MR) across 2D non-immersive (2DNI), 3D non-immersive (3DNI stereoscopic), and 3D immersive (3DI head-mounted display with motion tracking) virtual environments. In 2DNI and 3DNI, rotations around the Y axis were fastest, while X (picture plane) and Z (depth) rotations were similar, indicating scene-based allocentric reference frames. In contrast, in 3DI, depth rotation (Z) was significantly slower than picture plane (X), indicating egocentric viewer-centered encoding of 2D retinal projections. Experiment 2 confirmed that embedding objects in a fixed virtual frame reinstates scene-based encoding. Experiment 3 EEG showed early parietal ERP differences (~270–300 ms) during 3DI rotation setup.

Abacus in the brain: a longitudinal functional MRI study of a skilled abacus user with a right hemispheric lesion

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 28 August 2012 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00315

Authors: Satoshi Tanaka 1*, Keiko Seki 2, Takashi Hanakawa 3, Madoka Harada 4, Sho K. Sugawara 5,6, Norihiro Sadato 5,6, Katsumi Watanabe 7 and Manabu Honda 3 1 Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan 2 Kobe University, Kobe, Japan 3 National Institute of Neuroscience, Kodaira, Japan 4 Eisei Hospital, Hachioji, Japan 5 National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan 6 SOKENDAI, Hayama, Japan 7 The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Japan *Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Reports the case of a skilled abacus user who developed transient “abacus-based acalculia” and lost her “mental abacus” following a right fronto-parietal stroke involving the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Longitudinal fMRI at 6 and 13 months post-stroke demonstrated a functional shift during mental calculation from left-hemisphere language areas (Broca’s area, left DLPFC, left IPL) at 6 months to visuospatial networks (left superior parietal lobule, SPL) at 13 months, paralleling the behavioral recovery of backward digit span and abacus-specific interference. Findings establish the critical causal role of fronto-parietal networks, particularly the SPL, in mental abacus imagery.