Imagery, emotion, and bioinformational theory: From body to brain

• Published in: Biological psychology 2023-10, Vol.183, p.108669-108669, Article 108669
• Main Authors: Bradley, Margaret M., Sambuco, Nicola, Lang, Peter J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Action Imagery; Bioinformational theory; Desensitization; Embodied; Emotion; Episodic memory; Fear; Imagery; Imaginal exposure; Mental model; Mental simulation; Neuroimaging; Procedural memory; Psychopathology; Psychophysiology; Semantic memory; Sensory imagery
• ISSN: 0301-0511; 1873-6246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108669

The bioinformational theory of emotional imagery is a model of the hypothetical mental representations activated when people imagine emotionally engaging events, and was initially proposed to guide research and practice in the use of imaginal exposure as a treatment for fear and anxiety (Lang, 1979). In this 50 year overview, we discuss the development of bioinformational theory and its impact on the study of psychophysiology and psychopathology, most importantly assessing its viability and predictions in light of more recent brain-based studies of neural functional activation. Bioinformational theory proposes that narrative imagery, typically cued by language scripts, activates an associative memory network in the brain that includes stimulus (e.g., agents, contexts), semantic (e.g., facts and beliefs) and, most critically for emotion, response information (e.g., autonomic and somatic) that represents relevant real-world coping actions and reactions. Psychophysiological studies in healthy and clinical samples reliably find measurable response output during aversive and appetitive narrative imagery. Neuroimaging studies confirm that emotional imagery is associated with significant activation in motor regions of the brain, as well as in regions implicated in episodic and semantic memory retrieval, supporting the bioinformational view that narrative imagery prompts mental simulation of events that critically includes the actions and reactions engaged in emotional contexts. •Bioinformational theory describes the mental representations activated during narrative imagery.•Response information in memory during emotional imagery is associated with efferent leakage.•Measurable response output during emotional imagery is found in both healthy and patient samples.•Neuroimaging data confirm neural activation in motor and memory regions during emotional imagery.•The bioinformational view that imagery is a mental simulation recruiting action is supported.