Where Imagination Flows in the Human Brain

What happens in your brain when you dream? What happens in your brain when you create? Scientists may have tracked down the section of the brain responsible for imagination. They've charted the electrical activity in the brains of people who alternately imagined scenes or watched videos.

"A really important problem in brain research is understanding how different parts of the brain are functionally connected," said Barry Van Veen, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What areas are interacting? What is the direction of communication? We know that the brain does not function as a set of independent areas, but as a network of specialized areas that collaborate."

While someone was using their imagination, the scientists found an increase in the flow of information from the parietal lobe of the brain to the occipital lobe-from a higher-order region that combines inputs from several of the senses out of a lower-order region. In contrast, visual information taken in by the eyes tends to flow from the occipital lobe, which makes up much of the brain's visual cortex, "up" to the parietal lobe. In other words, imagination and reality flow in opposite directions.

"There seems to be a lot in our brains and animal brains that is directional, that neural signals move in a particular direction, then stop, and start somewhere else," said Van Veen. "I think this is really a new theme that had not been explored."

The findings reveal a bit more about the directional flow of information. More specifically, it reveals how imagination is sensed in the brain.

"We were very interested in seeing if our signal-processing methods were sensitive enough to discriminate between these conditions," said Van Veen. "These types of demonstrations are important for gaining confidence in new tools."

The findings are published in the journal NeuroImage.