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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1516058
Precuneus Activation Correlates with the Vividness of Dynamic and Static Imagery: An fMRI study
Provisionally accepted
Suna Duan 1
Qingfeng Li 1
Junjie Yang 1
Qing Yang 2 Enran Li 1
Yuting Liu 1
Lijuan Jiang 1
Chunbo Li 1
Binglei Zhao 1*- 1 Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2 ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
Introduction: Visual mental imagery (VMI) is a cognitive function that significantly impacts various aspects of daily life. However, the neural correlates of VMI vividness remain unclear, especially underlying different VMI types. Therefore, the current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying static (SI) and dynamic VMI (DI), focusing on the role of precuneus especially in the imagery vividness.The study involved 24 participants recruited from ShanghaiTech University. After excluding four participants due to excessive movements, data from 20 participants were analyzed.Each participant completed the Chinese version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) to assess their imagery vividness abilities. During fMRI scanning, participants were asked to imagine SI and DI scenarios in response to auditory stimuli. High-resolution fMRI data were acquired using a 3T scanner, and a General Linear Model (GLM) was applied to analyze blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals, focusing on the precuneus's role in imagery vividness.The results revealed that the left precuneus was found activated in both SI and DI tasks.Moreover, the left precuneus activation was positively correlated with VVIQ score. On the other hand, greater activation in the right precuneus was found during dynamic than static imagery as well as more extensive neural engagements; the right precuneus activation was further detected significantly correlated with individual VVIQ scores.Discussion: The study's findings offered fresh insights into the cognitive and neural processes subserving VMI. By revealing the distinct roles of the left and right precuneus in imagery vividness, this research contributed to a more nuanced understanding of VMI and its neural basis.
Keywords: static imagery1, dynamic imagery2, precuneus3, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)4, vividness of visual mental imagery (VVI)5
Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Duan, Li, Yang, Yang, Li, Liu, Jiang, Li and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Binglei Zhao, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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