ABSTRACT
Investigating mental imagery processes in the congenitally blind leads to an understanding of the role of visual perception in generating and manipulating visuo-spatial images and, at the same time, an understanding of the specific characteristics of visuo-spatial mechanisms developed in the absence of visual stimuli. We have already acknowledged that mental images cannot be considered as simply associated to visual or sensorial traces, although different representations can be associated with visuo-spatial, verbal, or haptic information. However, greater sources of perceptual as well as conceptual information may be used, and then integrated to generate and process mental representations (Cornoldi et al., 1998; Cornoldi & Vecchi, 2000). In general terms, it can be assumed that imagery processes do not necessarily depend directly on any sensory modality, and are more complex and heterogeneous cognitive functions.
