title: Brain activities of visual thinkers and verbal thinkers: A MEG study.
abstract: In this study we measured activation patterns in the primary visual cortex and the frontal language areas and compared them in individuals with strong and weak capacities to mentally visualize information during spontaneous thinking. Subjects were first administered a 5-item questionnaire to assess their ability to create mental pictures, and were divided into two groups (strong and weak visualizers) on this basis. They then performed tasks requiring visual imagery and verbal recollection, and their local neural activities were measured, using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Notably in the high beta-band (25Hz), the visual area (BA 17) was more strongly activated in strong visualizers, whereas, the frontal language areas were more strongly activated in weak visualizers. Strong visualizers are considered to be visual thinkers, and weak visualizers are verbal thinkers.
authors.affiliation: RIEB, Kobe University and Santa Fe Institute, Japan. Electronic address: nishimura@rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: Michiyo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inagawa
authors.affiliation: Elegaphy Inc., Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tobinaga
authors.affiliation: Human Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan.
authors.forename: Sunao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwaki
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007206:Individuality; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Beta-band activities; Differences between groups; Magnetoencephalography; Spatial filter; Visual thinkers and verbal thinkers