Image Free Thinking

Discover the invisible world of Aphantasia

Discovering everyone around you is visualizing can be hard to wrap your mind around. Join the network and connect with other image-free thinkers like you!

Joining Aphantasia Network has changed my life! I really thought aphantasia was holding me back, but now I understand that image-free thinking is my superpower.

Liana M Scott

As Seen In

Begin your aphantasia discovery journey

Embark on a journey of self-discovery with these must-read stories from our community. Join a discussion to connect with other like minds. Delve into the science behind extreme imagination. Discover and learn about aphantasia, or image-free thinking.

Think of a Horse: Describing Aphantasia

How do you describe aphantasia? Founder of Aphantasia Network often gets asked this question. His answer? Think of a horse.

on January 24, 2019

3 Things I Learned Dating an Aphantasic

What do you mean you can't picture a horse? For visualizers, it's hard to imagine what it's like not to visualize.

Jennifer McDougall

on March 11, 2019

History of Phantasia

Knowledge of our invisible differences dates back to 340 BC. Aristotle stands at the beginning of this history when imagination was not an established topic of discussion yet.

Jennifer McDougall and Tom Ebeyer

on March 1, 2020

Shocking Insights: What Electrical Stimulation Tells Us About How We Visualize

Why might your mind's eye be blind while your friend can picture crystal-clear images? Shocking insights into the known neurodifferences in imagery vividness.

on February 10, 2021

3 Things I Learned From Having Multisensory Aphantasia That Changed My Understanding Of The World

My journey understanding the cognitive profiles of aphantasia and hyperphantasia started when I learned at age 30 that most of you have a superpower I don’t.

Steven Levithan

on June 23, 2021

Understanding the Nuances of My Aphantasia

Do I have aphantasia? Answering that seemingly simple question can be very confusing. Understanding aphantasia is a journey of self-discovery.

on July 19, 2021

November 12, 2018

How did you first discover you were aphantasic?

I always find this question so interesting. For most of my life, I didn’t realize that others were actually visualizing their thoughts and memoriesR...

Multisensory Aphantasia

November 12, 2018

Visual or all senses?

Aphantasia isn’t limited to just visual imagination; it can impact all sensory imagery in the mind. For example, when most people go to a restaurant and see ...

Jennifer McDougall

December 8, 2020

Do you dream visually?

When Tom and I first tell people about his experience of aphantasia we often get asked this question: Do you dream? Tom doesn’t dream visually, he drea...

Neurodivergence

February 11, 2021

Can electrical stimulation modify your imagery?

I recently wrote an article on new research that uses electrical stimulation to see what’s different in the brains of people who see vivid imagery vers...

Steven Levithan

June 13, 2021

What realizations have you had since learning about aphantasia?

My girlfriend has hyperphantasia for all mental senses. It blew my mind when I learned some time ago she can accurately taste in her mind what a dish will ta...

Cannot Picture in My Mind

CBC Radio publishes a multimedia docuseries on the discovery of aphantasia, Tom Ebeyer's discovery of aphantasia and building the foundations for a global Aphantasia Network.

December 12, 2019

The Discovery of Aphantasia

How did you discover aphantasia and hyperphantasia? Adam Zeman joins the Founder of Aphantasia Network, Tom Ebeyer, for a live Ask Me Anything event to answer the community's questions.

February 21, 2021

Aphantasia and Mental Imagery

Aphantasia is the inability to visualize but can impact all mental imagery senses. Joel Pearson joins Founder of Aphantasia Network, Tom Ebeyer, for a live Ask Me Anything event to answer the community's questions.

February 25, 2021

Blind Mind’s Eye – The Science of Visual Imagery Extremes

Adam Zeman shares the rediscovery of aphantasia, a blind mind's eye, in this presentation from the 2021 Extreme Imagination Conference and Exhibition.

October 21, 2021

Measuring Aphantasia

How can aphantasia be measured? Joel Pearson talks about measuring aphantasia objectively and reliably in this presentation from the 2021 Extreme Imagination Conference.

October 21, 2021

Loss of imagery phenomenology with intact visuo-spatial task performance: a case of ‘blind imagination’

Zeman, A. Z. J., Della Sala, S., Torrens, L. A., Gountouna, V.-E., McGonigle, D. J., & Logie, R. H. (2010). Loss of imagery phenomenology with intact visuo-spatial task performance: a case of ‘blind imagination’. Neuropsychologia, 48(1), 145–155. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.024

This study focuses on the case of a patient, MX, who lost the ability to generate visual images but performed normally on standard tests of perception, visual imagery, and memory. The researchers used functional MRI scanning to explore this unexpected phenomenon and found that while MX's brain showed reduced activity in posterior regions during attempted imagery, activity in frontal regions was increased compared to controls. These findings suggest that MX adopted a different cognitive strategy when performing the imagery task, which led to successful performance in visual memory and imagery tasks without the experience of visual imagery. The results of this study demonstrate the dissociation between the phenomenal experience of visual imagery and successful performance in visual memory and imagery tasks.

Lives without imagery – Congenital aphantasia

Zeman, A., Dewar, M., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Lives without imagery - Congenital aphantasia. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 73, 378–380. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.019

This study presents a case report of a 65-year-old man who became unable to imagine images in his mind after a heart procedure. The authors were later contacted by over 20 individuals who recognized their own lifelong condition of "blind imagination". The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire to explore the features of their condition, and the authors named it aphantasia. The individuals reported becoming aware of their condition in their teens or twenties when they realized that, unlike themselves, most people had a quasi-visual experience of imagining things in their mind's eye.

The blind mind: No sensory visual imagery in aphantasia

Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2018). The blind mind: No sensory visual imagery in aphantasia. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 105, 53–60. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.012

This study investigated the condition of aphantasia, where individuals are unable to experience visual imagery. Until now, aphantasia has only been based on subjective reports, so the study aimed to measure sensory imagery in self-diagnosed aphantasics using the binocular rivalry paradigm and multiple questionnaires. The results showed that aphantasics had almost no imagery-based rivalry priming, and their self-rated visual object imagery was significantly lower compared to the general population, but their spatial imagery scores were higher. The study concludes that aphantasia involves a lack of sensory and phenomenal imagery, not a lack of metacognition. The possible neurological causes of aphantasia and future research directions are discussed.

Phantasia – the psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes

Zeman, A., Milton, F., Della Sala, S., Dewar, M., Frayling, T., Gaddum, J., … Winlove, C. (2020). Phantasia-The psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 130, 426–440. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.003

Visual imagery typically enables us to see absent items in the mind's eye. It plays a role in memory, day-dreaming and creativity. Since coining the terms aphantasia and hyperphantasia to describe the absence and abundance of visual imagery, Adam Zeman and his team have been contacted by many thousands of people with extreme imagery abilities. Through data collected from questionnaires filled by 2000 participants with aphantasia and 200 with hyperphantasia, the researchers have found some interesting patterns. Participants with aphantasia tend to work in scientific and mathematical fields and have difficulty with face recognition and autobiographical memory. On the other hand, those with hyperphantasia tend to work in creative fields and have a higher rate of synaesthesia. The study found that around half of the participants with aphantasia reported the absence of wakeful imagery in all sense modalities, but most of them dream visually. The researchers have also noted that aphantasia runs in families more frequently than expected. This study highlights the widespread but neglected features of human experience with informative psychological associations.

Aphantasia within the framework of neurodivergence: Some preliminary data and the curse of the confidence gap

Monzel, M., Dance, C., Azañón, E., & Simner, J. (2023). Aphantasia within the framework of neurodivergence: Some preliminary data and the curse of the confidence gap. Consciousness and Cognition, 115, 103567. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2023.103567

The term "neurodiversity" refers to the varied ways people think, learn, and behave, emphasizing that there's no single "correct" way and that differences shouldn't be seen as deficits. This concept often encompasses conditions like Autism, ADHD, and Dyslexia, which diverge from societal norms but can also bring unique strengths. The paper discusses aphantasia, a condition where individuals can't voluntarily visualize images. While they know what things look like, they can't form a mental picture. Despite being a minority, with 3.9% of the population affected, its prevalence is significant. There's debate on whether aphantasia is a disorder or just a neutral form of neurodivergence. This paper argues against viewing aphantasia as a disorder, emphasizing the broader context of neurodiversity.

Aphantasia Network

Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire

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