Discover the World of Aphantasia

Can You Picture This?

Imagine a world where up to 4% of people can't create mental images. That's the reality of aphantasia, a fascinating variation in human cognition discovered in 2015. Aphantasia Network is your hub for understanding, exploring, and embracing life without a mind's eye.

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

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True Range of Imagery

The Shape of Things Unseen: A New Science of Imagination - A Conversation with Dr. Adam Zeman

In this conversation, Adam Zeman discusses his book on a new science of imagination and how the discovery of aphantasia reveals the diversity of human consciousness, challenging our existing understanding of imagination.

Interoception, insula, and agency: a predictive coding account of aphantasia

Silvanto, J. (2025). Interoception, insula, and agency: a predictive coding account of aphantasia. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1564251. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1564251

Researchers have proposed a new explanation for aphantasia—the inability to voluntarily create mental images—suggesting it may result from how our brain processes internal bodily signals (called interoception) through a brain region called the insula. The theory has two key components: individuals with aphantasia may struggle to integrate bodily sensations with mental processes, which normally gives imagery its "embodied" quality, and they may experience reduced "sense of agency" over generating mental images. Using a "predictive coding" framework, researchers suggest our brain normally creates mental imagery through top-down predictions from higher brain regions to sensory areas, but in aphantasia, these predictions don't receive enough amplification due to reduced precision of interoceptive signals, preventing imagery from reaching conscious awareness. Interestingly, many people with aphantasia can still experience visual dreams, suggesting the issue isn't with visual processing itself but with voluntary image creation, and the theory also explains why people with aphantasia often have difficulties integrating information across different senses.

2025-05-06 07:53:20

i cant memorize anything, but i can create 15 different dimentions with their own unique.

i have never in my life succeeded at exams, it might cuz of the Hyperphantasia mixed with ADHD, and a dash of personality disorder.

now what im asking please someone tell me how to succeed i dont want to fail theres alot of bulidings i have yet to design and bulid.
the only t

2025-05-02 11:23:41

foveated thinking

Human vision is "foveated". This means we only have high visual acuity in a tiny portion of our field of view, with really crappy acuity just a few degrees off of our line of sight. The reason we don't perceive the world as fuzzy in the periphery is that we constantly scan our &quot

2025-05-01 15:00:10

imagining your own face vs. other people's faces

I'm aphantasic. So like probably most of you, if I'm to recall the face of a loved one or someone I know well, I can't "see" them (don't even really know what that would mean) but I could describe them. Like I could sit down with a police sketch artist and guide them th

The Phenomenology of Offline Perception: Multisensory Profiles of Voluntary Mental Imagery and Dream Imagery

Bilzer, M., & Monzel, M. (2025). The phenomenology of offline perception: Multisensory profiles of voluntary mental imagery and dream imagery. Vision (Basel, Switzerland), 9(2), 37. doi:10.3390/vision9020037

This recent study by Bilzer and Monzel investigates the relationship between voluntary mental imagery and dream imagery as forms of "offline perception." Surveying 226 participants, researchers found these systems operate distinctly yet share neural connections. Dream imagery featured more vivid emotional and visual content due to dreams' immersive nature, while voluntary imagery was richer in auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile experiences, likely from greater conscious control. People with frequent dream recall or lucid dreaming experiences showed stronger connections between these systems, suggesting metacognition creates bridges between otherwise separate networks. Notably for the aphantasia community, the study mentions that while about 26% of aphantasics report complete absence of multisensory imagery while awake, many still experience dream imagery, though less frequently and vividly than others. This supports the understanding that voluntary imagery and dream imagery rely on different neural mechanisms—a distinction particularly evident in the aphantasic experience.

buchibabu bojja

2025-04-20 20:35:00

Do we have any study on is breath pattern between aphantasia and non aphantasia person?

Hi fellow fighters,

First tell me about my self, My name is Buchibabu. Last year i found my self having aphantasia. I always struggled to get events/ images in my mind and found i have aphantasia.

From last more than year, i am practicing mediation where i have to foc

Aphantasia reimagined

Phillips, I. (2025). Aphantasia reimagined. Nous (Detroit, Mich.). doi:10.1111/nous.12551

In this research paper, philosopher and cognitive scientist Ian Phillips offers a new perspective on aphantasia—the inability to visualize in the mind’s eye—that helps explain a long-standing puzzle: why do people who report no mental imagery still perform normally on tasks that seem to require it? Phillips argues that the confusion stems from a flawed assumption that all mental imagery can be measured along a single scale of vividness. Instead, he introduces a key distinction between two types of imagery: *visual-object imagery* (the ability to picture detailed scenes, colors, or shapes) and *spatial imagery* (the ability to mentally manipulate objects or understand spatial layouts). While people with aphantasia often lack visual-object imagery, many retain strong spatial imagery, which supports their performance on tasks like mental rotation or memory for object placement—even if they don’t consciously “see” anything. Because standard questionnaires focus narrowly on visual vividness, they miss this preserved ability. By recognizing these different forms of imagery, Phillips proposes that aphantasia is not a total absence of mental imagery but a varied set of imagery differences, similar to how perception itself can be selectively impaired. This more nuanced understanding better captures the diversity of aphantasic experience and calls for improved tools that reflect the full range of our inner worlds.

2025-04-16 09:36:38

Aphantasia and being a strong shoulder

I hypothesise that having aphantasia helps with helping others in emotionally challenging situations. I experience that people around me struggle to hear, for example, a detailed story about sexual abuse; it is simply too intense for them to even hear about it from a victim. So, I was wondering if m

Maureen OConnell

2025-04-15 02:25:57

My Take

Yep I'm neurodivergent, quadruple fold. I'm dyslexic, I have SDAM, Aphantasia and most likely ADHD. I'm not broken, I'm different; I like to think of myself as evolved. This is my life. I live in the moment (hours, days, up to about 3 months). There is no past for me (personally,

Accepting Neurodiversity: The Authentic Path to Inclusion

I used to think of myself as part of the “norm”—someone who wasn’t different. But over time, I began to realize that my dyslexia, my aphantasia, the way I process and express ideas, all pointed to a different kind of mind. Not broken. Not less. Just different. And in embracing that difference, I stopped seeing it as a deficit and started seeing it as a strength. It changed how I teach, how I connect with others, and most importantly, how I see myself.

Bryn Williams-Jones

on 2025-04-14 13:49:04

2025-04-09 13:36:00

Aphantasia & EMDR

Does anyone have any experience with EMDR treatment? I'm interested in how effective it can be for us Aphants since much of the practice involves visualization.
When I do a Google search, I don't find any related articles, however, their AI chat bot mentions that
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2025-04-08 21:40:23

Acquired Aphantasia

Hi, I am really struggling with this and am wondering if anyone has managed to re obtain their ability to see imagery.

I am an artist and used to be able to picture concepts in my mind but realised this slipping away and becoming more and more difficult, until the ability left comple

2025-04-04 05:56:50

Visual recall or memory storage?

Is it really that we can't recall images or is it just that no visual imagery is stored in our memory? What if aphantasia is a memory storage problem more than a visual recall problem? Like we're only working with saving word documents and spreadsheets over pdfs and jpgs? Our brains just d

2025-04-03 17:16:40

learning languages

I'm curious about other people with aphantasia and their experiences with learning languages.

I write fiction for a living, so I feel like I've got some facility with at least English. But in my youth, I tried to learn French and German and found that it was essentially impo

2025-04-01 09:40:09

Affect on perception of things

Can having aphantasia, hyperphantasia affect my perception of some things like images, videos or text that induce visualization especially or ads that I see.

2025-04-01 08:18:35

How would you describe your ability - or inability - to see things in your mind?

Hi,

I’m new here and only came across the term aphantasia yesterday. I have trouble recognizing people - if I’ve only seen someone once or twice, I often don’t realize I’ve met them before when I see them again. I can completely mix people up because of this, and sometimes it’s uncomf

Aphantasia Juggling Study

2025-03-29 05:04:02

Can Visualize, but Foggy On Colors?

I'm not aphantasic, I'm hypophantasic and it's been really hard to explain it. I can visualize patterns well, but really foggy. Better than colors though. Whenever I imagine something that I haven't defined the colors yet, I can see the colors but I don't know what the color