Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33885966›Full record

ReviewBrain structure & function2022

Hemispheric asymmetries in visual mental imagery.

Jianghao Liu, Alfredo Spagna, Paolo Bartolomeo

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Brain structure & function, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
3.6field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.

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  9. Low-dimensional controllability of brain networks.PLoS computational biology · 2025
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  15. Embodiment of infinity in mathematics.Frontiers in psychology · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Jianghao LiuSorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de La Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
Alfredo SpagnaDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University in the City of New York, New York, 10027, USA.
Paolo BartolomeoSorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de La Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France. paolo.bartolomeo@icm-institute.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2640-6426
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FRColumbia University · US

Funding

Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-10-IAIHU-06Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR-16-CE37- 0005Fondation pour la Recherche sur les AVC FR-AVC-017
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Visual mental imagery is the faculty whereby we can "visualize" objects that are not in our line of sight. Longstanding evidence dating back over thirty years has shown that unilateral brain lesions, especially in the left temporal lobe, can impair aspects of this ability. Yet, there is currently no attempt to identify analogies between these neuropsychological findings of hemispheric asymmetry and those from other neuroscientific approaches. Here, we present a critical review of the available literature on the hemispheric laterality of visual mental imagery, by looking at cross-method patterns of evidence in the domains of lesion neuropsychology, neuroimaging, and direct cortical stimulation. Results can be summarized under three main axes. First, frontoparietal networks in both hemispheres appear to be associated with visual mental imagery. Second, lateralization patterns emerge in the temporal lobes, with the left inferior temporal lobe being the most common finding in the literature for endogenously generated images, especially, but not exclusively, when orthographic material is used to ignite imagery. Third, an opposite pattern of hemispheric laterality emerges when visual mental images are induced by exogenous stimulation; direct cortical electrical stimulation tends to produce visual imagery experiences predominantly when applied to the right temporal lobe. These patterns of hemispheric asymmetry are difficult to reconcile with the dominant model of visual mental imagery, which emphasizes the implication of early sensory cortices. They suggest instead that visual mental imagery relies on large-scale brain networks, with a crucial participation of high-level visual regions in the temporal lobes.

Indexed as

Functional LateralityTemporal LobeBrainBrain MappingImaginationNeuroimagingBrain damageCortical stimulationFrontoparietal networksMental imageryNeuroimagingTemporal lobe

Identifiers

PMID33885966
OpenAlexW3153227792

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.