Wicken et al. (2021) found that mental imagery influenced the automatic water production on the skin in response to a fearful situation, or skin conductance level (SCL), between average and low imagination ability participants groups. When participants were shown neutral and scary images and then read neutral and scary stories, both average and low imagination ability participants exhibited increased SCL to the scary pictures. However, while average imagination participants showed increased SCL, low imagination participants showed a flat-line response to the scary stories (WICKEN; KEOGH; PEARSON, 2021). The authors conclude that the absence of visual imagery decreases emotional reactions.