Apr 9, 2026 11:21 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1122252
INTRO: Why can images of things we have seen seem so real when we later recall them from memory? A new study led by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators sheds light on the answer.
The study shows that the same brain neurons are activated when we imagine something and when we perceive something. The research, led by Cedars-Sinai, is the first to provide a detailed understanding of the shared mechanism that underlies visual perception and creation of mental images in the human brain. It was published in the journal Science.
“We generate a mental image of an object that we have seen before by reactivating the brain cells we used to see it in the first place,” said Ueli Rutishauser, PhD, director of the Center for Neural Science and Medicine and professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, and the study’s joint senior author. “Our study revealed the code that we use to re-create the images.”
The findings provide a biological basis for visual imagination, a process that is also critical for creative arts.
“Further insight into this neural process has the potential to open pathways toward developing new therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other mental conditions that involve uncontrolled vivid imagery,” said Adam Mamelak, MD, director of the Functional Neurosurgery Program and professor of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai, and co-author of the study... (MORE - details)
INTRO: Why can images of things we have seen seem so real when we later recall them from memory? A new study led by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators sheds light on the answer.
The study shows that the same brain neurons are activated when we imagine something and when we perceive something. The research, led by Cedars-Sinai, is the first to provide a detailed understanding of the shared mechanism that underlies visual perception and creation of mental images in the human brain. It was published in the journal Science.
“We generate a mental image of an object that we have seen before by reactivating the brain cells we used to see it in the first place,” said Ueli Rutishauser, PhD, director of the Center for Neural Science and Medicine and professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, and the study’s joint senior author. “Our study revealed the code that we use to re-create the images.”
The findings provide a biological basis for visual imagination, a process that is also critical for creative arts.
“Further insight into this neural process has the potential to open pathways toward developing new therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other mental conditions that involve uncontrolled vivid imagery,” said Adam Mamelak, MD, director of the Functional Neurosurgery Program and professor of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai, and co-author of the study... (MORE - details)