Aphantasia: being unable to see with the mind’s eye is a condition that has gained recognition over the last twenty years. Aphantasia and blind imagination affect an as yet unknown number of people in the population. This may lead you to believe it is a new discovery, but you would be wrong.
Aristotle
As with many concepts, Aristotle first proposed Phantasia as a sixth sense referring to our ability to picture with our mind what we cannot see. He was fascinated with the nature and properties of the soul and the power of thought.
Galton
Francis Galton, a polymath scientist, revived the idea of Phantasia in 1880 by conducting an investigation with some students. He asked one hundred undergraduates to picture their breakfast table and describe it. Of this group, ten claimed they had grainy or faint images in their minds, but a few said they could conjure no image whatsoever. Galton posited that this was a neurological condition but nothing further came of his theory until the 1970s.
Marks and the vividness of visual imagery
In 1973, David Marks created the Vividness of Visual Imagery (VVIQ) to measure individual differences in vividness of imagery. There have been several versions of the questionnaire since, but the results were self-reporting so any findings and conclusions drawn needed to bear this in mind.
Adam Zeman
In 2009, neurologist Adam Zeman received a 65-year-old former surveyor as a patient. This man, referred to as patient MX, found he had lost the ability to imagine following heart surgery. The case study received lots of media attention and led to many self-identifying and reporting their own blind imagination. The subject was suffering from acquired phantasia which tends to occur following depression or psychosis.
By 2015, Adam Zeman’s research included many case studies exploring blind imagination in more detail. This is when he coined the term Aphantasia to describe the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one’s mind.
In 2020, Dr. Zeman published a paper on the University of Exeter’s website entitled: Phantasia – The psychological significance of lifelong vividness extremes. The study involved a total of 2,400 participants and the results revealed some interesting findings.
Aphantasiacs struggles
Aphantasiacs struggle with some aspects of life that leave them feeling alienated. For them, facial recognition can be challenging. So, walking into a bar to meet friends could be difficult as they struggle to identify people they know well. Autobiographical memory can be hard to access for some coupled with face blindness which can lead to problems with personal relationships and friendships.
Aphantasia seems to be associated with scientific and mathematical occupations whereas Hyperphantasia, its opposite, is more closely aligned with those pursuing the creative industries. These are tendencies though and there are aphantasiacs who pursue creative careers. But the results reveal patterns, not absolutes.
Reading as therapy
The relationship between aphantasia and reading is not something I had not previously considered. When life is challenging, fiction gives me a means of escape from the darkness of the world. Modern life is stressful and with the constant intrusion of news and technology, it can be hard to switch off. Books help me do this. Reading allows the brain to reset and slow down. The feel of the pages between your fingers is meditative and the images accompanying those words ignite your pleasure senses for a dopamine hit that is accessible at all times.
Well, this is how reading is for me. My imagination is constantly constructing images.
What is reading like for those with aphantasia?
Like many conditions, aphantasia exists on a scale. My husband, for example, has a strong autobiographical memory and can recall faces yet finds reading fiction taxing. If he has seen a visual representation of a world, or character, he can use that as a guide to help him construct the world or picture those characters when he reads.
Without that visual guide, many books are difficult for him to access and enjoy. When he was younger and the class was instructed to read, he would sometimes read the dictionary as that held as much meaning for him as a book.
He persevered with reading and can now take pleasure in it but not to the extent that I do. For me it is effortless; for him focus and visual references are essential.
Aphantasiacs may struggle with reading for this reason. For them, to access the same pleasure from literature graphic novels can provide the perfect antidote.
Aphantasia and misconceptions
It would be easy to assume that those who have aphantasia cannot be creative. If they cannot picture images easily then how does that hinder the creative process? To be imaginative is to show creativity and inventiveness. Creativity is linked to a network of brain activities recalling past events to future ones and the possible. Aphantasiacs can do all this but they process creativity differently.
If you, or someone you know, struggles to visualise, there is ongoing research to help support. For more information, you can visit www.aphantasia.com.