[Mental Imagery: Neurophysiology and Implications in Psychiatry]. / Imaginería mental: neurofisiología e implicaciones en psiquiatría.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an explanation about what mental imagery is and some implications in psychiatry. METHODS: This article is a narrative literature review. RESULTS: There are many terms in which imagery representations are described in different fields of research. They are defined as perceptions in the absence of an external stimulus, and can be created in any sensory modality. Their neurophysiological substrate is almost the same as the one activated during sensory perception. There is no unified theory about its function, but it is possibly the way that our brain uses and manipulates the information to respond to the environment. CONCLUSIONS: Mental imagery is an everyday phenomenon, and when it occurs in specific patterns it can be a sign of mental disorders.