Higher Vivid Visualization and Decision Making Capability are Interlinked

Brain is considered to be one of the most complex and sophisticated structure in our body. Any kind of malfunctioning in the brain can make people suffer a lot. There are billions of neurons in the brain connected to each other and these neuron connections help us to communicate with each other in a way we want. According to a new research it has been proven that people having the ability to visualize vividly have a stronger connection between their visual network and regions of the brain associated with decision-making. The study also shed some light on the memory and personality differences between those with strong visual imagery and those who cannot havean image in their mind’s eye. This is the first study to tell about these connections and networks. The scans tells with a proof that people with hyper-imagination have a stronger connection between the visual network, which processes what they see and which is activated during the visual imagery, and the prefrontal cortices which is primarily involved in decision-making. These strong connections were evident in the break scans as participants relaxed and possibly continued to sway.

Despite equivalent results on standardized memory tests, Professor Zeman and the team found out that people with hyperphantasia produce more detailed and vivid descriptions of imagined scenarios than controls, who in turn exceed aphantasics. This also applied to autobiographical memory or the ability to recall events that had happened in the past. The aphantasics also had a lower ability to recognize faces of people they have met. Personality tests showed that apanthasics people are more introverted and hyperpantasics are more open and extroverted. Professor Zeeman told that the research shows for the first time, that a weaker connection between the parts of the brain that are responsible for vision and the frontal regions that are involved in decision-making and attention leads to aphantasia. But it should not be seen as a disadvantage. Rather than it should be seen as a different way of experiencing the world.