Mental imagery and perception overlap within transmodal association networks.

Imagining scenes and speech activates transmodal association networks more than sensory-specific areas, highlighting their role in self-generated mental imagery.

• Why it matters: Understanding how the brain supports mental imagery is crucial for insights into cognition, as current models emphasize sensory cortex involvement but overlook transmodal contributions.
• What they did: Using a precision fMRI experiment with multi-dimensional experience sampling, researchers had participants imagine scenes or speech, then mapped overlapping brain activity in canonical networks.
• The result: Findings show that imagery-related activity predominantly overlaps within transmodal association networks, suggesting these networks are key to supporting diverse forms of mental imagery.