Comparing mental imagery experiences across visual, auditory, and other sensory modalities

Abstract Although mental imagery is often studied as a visual phenomenon, it can occur in any sensory modality. Given that mental images may recruit similar modality-specific neural systems to those which support veridical perception, the properties of mental images may be constrained by the modality in which they are experienced. Yet, little is known about how mental images are experienced at all, let alone how such experiences may vary depending on the modality in which they occur. Here we explored how mental images are experienced in different modalities using an extensive questionnaire. Mainly focusing on visual and auditory mental imagery, we surveyed participants on if and how they experienced their thought content in a sensory way when thinking about the appearance or sound of the letter “O”. Specifically, we investigated temporal properties of imagined content (e.g. onset latency, duration), as well as spatial properties (e.g. apparent location), effort (e.g. ease, spontaneity, control), dependence on body movements (e.g. eye movements), interactions between real and imagined content (e.g. inner speech during reading), the perceived normality of imagery experiences, and how participants labeled their own experiences. Participants also ranked their mental imagery experiences in the five traditional sensory modalities and reported on the involvement of each modality during their thoughts, imagination, and dreams. Confidence ratings were taken for every answer recorded. Overall, visual and auditory experiences tended to dominate mental events relative to other sensory modalities. However, most people reported that auditory mental imagery was superior to visual mental imagery on almost every metric tested, except with respect to spatial properties. Our findings suggest that mental images are restrained in a similar matter to other modality-specific sensory processes in the brain. Broadly, our work also provides a wealth of insights and observations into how mental images are experienced by individuals, acting as a useful resource for future investigations.