Mental imagery and imaging mental disorders, Prof. Emily A Holmes

27 May 2016, SwissTech Convention Center, Lausanne, Switzerland Website: From a cognitive science perspective mental imagery involves an experience like perception in the absence of a percept: seeing in our mind’s eye, hearing with our mind’s ear and so forth. Imagery has extremely interesting properties - it recruits similar brain areas to actual perception, and enhances memory and learning. Prof. Holmes’s experimental work has shown that compared to verbal processing mental imagery has a more powerful impact on emotion. From a clinical practice perspective, intrusive, affect-laden images cause distress across psychological disorders. Imagery-based intrusive memories and “flashbacks” to a past trauma are the hallmark of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Intrusive mental imagery of the future can also occur, such as “flashforwards” to suicidal acts or manic pursuits in bipolar disorder. We need to know how to work with dysfunctional imagery, and promote adaptive imagery using image