Aphantasia Research

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Diversity makes the richness of humanity: The emergence and persistence of mental imagery after self-reported psilocybin truffles intake in an autistic woman with “blind imagination” (aphantasia): A 33-month retrospective case report

Rebecchi, K. (2025). “Diversity makes the richness of humanity”: The emergence and persistence of mental imagery after self-reported psilocybin truffles intake in an autistic woman with “blind imagination” (aphantasia): A 33-month retrospective case report. Journal of Psychedelic Studies. doi:10.1556/2054.2025.00320

This case study follows a 34-year-old autistic woman with lifelong aphantasia who experienced vivid mental imagery for the first time after consuming psilocybin truffles. Before taking psilocybin, she scored 16 on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (the minimum score indicating no mental imagery). Immediately after her first psilocybin experience, her score jumped to 80 (the maximum), and importantly, the effects persisted long after the psychedelic wore off. Twelve months later, her score was 59, and at 33 months it had increased to 68, which is above the general population average. She reported being able to manipulate images in her mind, zoom in and out, and break down colors - experiences that were completely new to her. The research suggests psilocybin may work by altering brain connectivity patterns, particularly between visual processing areas and regions involved in conscious awareness. While this is just one person's experience and needs much more research, it raises questions about how we understand and classify aphantasia. The participant emphasized that she never felt disabled by her aphantasia, viewing it instead as a different way of experiencing the world rather than a deficit. She developed effective strategies and describes herself as methodical and creative. This perspective challenges the idea that aphantasia needs to be "cured" and suggests we should focus on understanding cognitive diversity rather than pathologizing different ways of thinking.

Aphantasia as a functional disconnection

Liu, J., & Bartolomeo, P. (2025). Aphantasia as a functional disconnection. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2025.05.012

Recent brain imaging research helps explain how people with aphantasia can remember what things look like without being able to picture them mentally. Scientists used brain scans to study what happens when people with aphantasia try to form mental images. They found that the visual parts of the brain still activate normally, but there's less communication between a key visual area (the fusiform imagery node) and the brain regions responsible for conscious awareness in the front of the brain. This reduced connection may be the neural basis for aphantasia. The researchers suggest this disconnection explains a puzzling aspect of aphantasia: how people can have accurate memories for what objects look like and recognize them perfectly well, even though they can't consciously experience mental images. Essentially, the visual information is being processed and stored properly in the brain, but it's not reaching the areas that create conscious visual experiences. This research builds on work showing that the left prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in visual awareness, suggesting that when this area doesn't communicate effectively with visual processing regions, you get the aphantasia experience—intact visual memory without the subjective experience of "seeing" in your mind's eye.

Impoverished recall of sensory details along infrequently travelled routes in aphantasia

Li, A., Arrieta, M., Levine, B., & Rosenbaum, R. S. (2025). Impoverished recall of sensory details along infrequently travelled routes in aphantasia. Memory (Hove, England), 1–13. doi:10.1080/09658211.2025.2507948

Research shows how people with aphantasia remember and navigate familiar environments. Scientists studied over 220 participants, comparing those with aphantasia to those with typical mental imagery, using questionnaires about navigation skills and detailed interviews about routes they travel regularly. The results challenge assumptions about aphantasia and memory. People with aphantasia performed just as well as others when describing familiar routes they travel frequently—recalling the same amount of spatial details (like distances and directions), landmarks, and even sensory information (sounds, smells, textures). They also reported similar confidence in their overall navigation abilities and used comparable strategies for getting around. A difference showed up with less familiar routes. When describing places they rarely visit, people with aphantasia recalled fewer sensory details compared to those with typical imagery. This suggests they may rely on different memory strategies for frequently traveled routes—possibly converting visual experiences into verbal or factual memories rather than storing them as mental images. These findings offer reassurance to people with aphantasia: your spatial memory works well, especially for familiar environments. The research suggests that while you may process and store spatial information differently, you develop effective compensatory strategies that allow you to navigate successfully. This adds to growing evidence that aphantasia doesn't mean impaired memory—just different ways of remembering and experiencing the world around you.

Aphantasia Research

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