MEG and Aphantasia

NCT07630324 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 69HCL26_01762026-A01303-48
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Covert actions are cognitive processes that involves the motor system. They include motor imagery, movement preparation, action observation or action language. They imply mental simulations, based on activations of neural networks, involved in specific operations such as perceiving or acting. These mental phenomena have intrigued and still intrigue philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists, as they are complex and introspective processes, which play a major role in human cognition. To decipher similarities and differences between these types of covert actions, the investigators will focus on persons living with aphantasia, which is a neurocognitive specificity present in a small proportion of the population (5 to 8%). Aphantasia is characterized by the alteration or the absence of explicit mental representations. This population offers an ideal testbed to disentangle the involvement of cognitive and motor processes in different forms of covert actions. By means of magnetoencephalography, this study aims to identify and compare brain patterns and their temporal dynamics in alpha and beta bands during covert actions in two groups of healthy volunteers: aphantasics and non-aphantasics (i.e., having a non-altered imagery capacity). If covert actions indeed share brain networks, the investigators expect aphantasics to present reduced neural and behavioral activation during the explicit (i.e., motor imagery) and implicit (movement preparation, action language and action observation) forms of covert actions.

Conditions

Aphantasia

Keywords

Covert actions; MEG; Aphantasia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Whole-brain power of beta band (Tesla2)

  Power of beta band with whole brain analysis during each of the four covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, movement preparation and action language).

  During MEG recording

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Whole-brain power of alpha band (Tesla2)

  During MEG recording

• Power of beta band (Tesla2) in the primary motor cortex

  During MEG recording

• Power of alpha band (Tesla2) in the primary motor cortex

  During MEG recording

Study Arms (2)

Aphantasics

EXPERIMENTAL

Healthy individuals with altered mental imagery (score between 55 and 60 for each modality at the vividness of motor imagery questionnaire - second version)

Device: MEG; Device: MRI; Behavioral: Vividness of motor imagery questionnaire - second version

Non-aphantasics

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Healthy individuals with non-altered mental imagery (score between 20 and 36 for each modality at the vividness of motor imagery questionnaire - second version)

Device: MEG; Device: MRI; Behavioral: Vividness of motor imagery questionnaire - second version

Interventions

MEG DEVICE

Within a single session, measure of brain oscillations during four types of covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, action language and movement preparation).

Aphantasics; Non-aphantasics

MRI DEVICE

Anatomical MRI, performed once

Aphantasics; Non-aphantasics

Vividness of motor imagery questionnaire - second version BEHAVIORAL

Before MEG and MRI, measure of vividness for internal visual imagery, external visual imagery and kinesthetic imagery (for 12 actions).

Aphantasics; Non-aphantasics

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 60 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Aged 18 to 60 years
• Willing to actively participate in the study
• Having signed an informed consent form to participate in the study
• Identification of individuals with and without aphantasia based on responses to a questionnaire validated in the literature: Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire, second version (VMIQ-2):
• VMIQ-2: internal visual imagery score = 55-60
• VMIQ-2: kinesthetic imagery score = 55-60
• VMIQ-2: internal visual imagery score = 20-36
• VMIQ-2: kinesthetic imagery score = 20-36

You may not qualify if:

• Neurological or psychiatric disorders
• History of neurological or psychiatric disorders
• Volunteers presenting standard contraindications to MEG and MRI examinations:
• Presence of incompatible metal in the body (pacemaker, implanted pump including insulin pump, neurostimulator, cochlear implants or other hearing devices, metallic prosthesis, intracerebral/surgical aneurysm clips, implantable defibrillator, ferromagnetic foreign bodies in the eyes or brain in the upper body, ventriculoperitoneal shunt valves, dental braces or steel posts in root canals, ferromagnetic foreign bodies in the upper body)
• Claustrophobia
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women
• Individuals under guardianship, curatorship, or legal protection
• Individuals deprived of liberty
• Individuals undergoing psychiatric care
• Individuals admitted to a health or social institution for reasons other than clinical research
• Individuals not affiliated with a social security system or not beneficiaries of such a system

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hospices Civils de Lyon: lead

Study Sites (1)

CERMEP

Bron, France

Location

Study Officials

• Yves ROSSETTI, Professor

  Hospices Civils de Lyon

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Florent LEBON, PhD

  Laboratoire Interuniversitaire de Biologie de la Motricité (LIBM UR7424)

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Florent LEBON, PhD

CONTACT

+336 450 445 26; florent.lebon@univ-lyon1.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Monocentric study

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 1, 2026
• First Posted: June 5, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 2, 2028
• Last Updated: June 10, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Locations

FR (1)