Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42110566›Full record

ArticleNeuroscience of consciousness2026

From dots to faces: individual differences in visual imagery capacity predict the content of Ganzflicker-induced hallucinations.

Ana Chkhaidze, Reshanne R Reeder, Connor Gag, Anastasia Kiyonaga, Seana Coulson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuroscience of consciousness, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

5 authors.

Ana ChkhaidzeDepartment of Cognitive Science, University of California  San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9923-2543
Reshanne R ReederDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8525-5285
Connor GagDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California  San Diego, 3235 Voigt Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
Anastasia KiyonagaDepartment of Cognitive Science, University of California  San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7586-3447
Seana CoulsonDepartment of Cognitive Science, University of California  San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1246-9394

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A rapidly alternating red and black display known as Ganzflicker induces visual hallucinations that reflect the generative capacity of the visual system. Individuals vary in their degree of visual imagery, ranging from absent to vivid imagery. Recent proposals suggest that differences in the visual system along this imagery spectrum should also influence the complexity of other internally generated visual experiences. Here, we used tools from natural language processing to analyze free-text descriptions of hallucinations from >4000 participants, asking whether people with different imagery phenotypes see different things in their mind's eye during Ganzflicker-induced hallucinations. Topic modeling of descriptions revealed that strong imagers described complex, naturalistic content, while weak imagers reported simple geometric patterns. Using crowd-sourced sensorimotor norms, we also found that participants with stronger imagery used language with richer perceptual associations. These findings may reflect individual variation in coordination between early visual areas and higher-order regions relevant for the imagery spectrum.

Indexed as

aphantasiaindividual differencesvisual cortexvisual hallucinationsvisual imagery

Identifiers

PMID42110566
PMCPMC13156945

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.