Discuss the properties of mental images and how mental images are related to the senses, including the rare form of imagery known as synesthesia; explain how mental images are formed by the brain; list four ways that mental images are used in everyda

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Answer will include that almost everyone has visual and auditory images. More than half of individuals have imagery for movement, touch, taste, smell, and pain. Thus, mental images are sometimes more than just "pictures." Some people even have a rare form of imagery called synesthesia. For these individuals, images cross normal sensory barriers, such as spiced chicken tasting "pointy" or seeing pain as the color orange. Most people use images to make a decision or solve a problem, to change their feelings or moods, to improve a skill or prepare for some action, and to aid memory, such as using mnemonics. To give more original answers, a person might
assemble or invent new images. Mental images are not flat, like photographs, and they can be mentally rotated. Mental rotation is partly based on imagined movements, that is, we can mentally "pick up" an object and turn it around or even fold it. Regarding how mental images are formed, information from the eyes normally activates the brain's primary visual area when we see something, thus, creating an icon, or image. Other brain areas then help us recognize the image by relating it to stored knowledge. When you think using mental images, the system works in reverse (sometimes called "reverse vision.") Brain areas in which memories are stored send signals back to the visual cortex, where once again an image is created. For example, if you visualize a friend's face right now, the area of your brain that specializes in perceiving faces will become more active. Kinesthetic (motor) images are created from muscular sensations. Such images help us think about movements and actions, guiding our flow of ideas. Kinesthetic images are especially important in movement-oriented skills such as music, sports, dance, skateboarding, and martial arts. Examples of kinesthetic images will vary.