How Does Aphantasia Affect Memory?
“I wish I could picture my loved ones in my mind,” shares a member of our community, articulating a longing echoed by many aphantasics. This sentiment, alongside others expressing difficulty in remembering the past, highlights how aphantasia affects the way memories are experienced and cherished.
Recent research from the University of Bonn has shed light on the specific challenges individuals with aphantasia face when remembering the past. People with aphantasia (inability to visualize mental images) experience significant difficulties when remembering their past due to decreased hippocampal brain activity and altered connectivity between memory and visual processing regions.
This new discovery provides scientific validation for the lived experiences shared among many within the aphantasia community.
Key Memory Impacts:
- Reduced detail in autobiographical memories
- Lower confidence in memory accuracy
- Difficulty reliving past emotions
- Challenges in visualizing past experiences
The Science: How Researchers Study Aphantasia and Memory
Before we break down some of the recent research findings on aphantasia and memory, it’s important to understand how aphantasia is identified in studies like this.
Identifying Aphantasia
Researchers use two primary methods to identify aphantasia:
Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ)
- Participants rate mental imagery vividness on a 1-5 scale
- Score 1: “No image at all, I only ‘know’ I am thinking of the object”
- Score 5: “Perfectly realistic, as vivid as real seeing”
- Scores range from 16-80; lower scores indicate aphantasia
Take the VVIQ assessment here.
Binocular Rivalry Task
- A more objective test measuring visualization ability
- Participants imagine either red or blue
- Then view an image or pattern of both colors simultaneously (one to each eye)
- The imagined color should influence which image or pattern they see more clearly
Learn how to create your own Binocular Rivalry At Home Test here.
The Autobiographical Interview Method
The researchers were interested in how aphantasia affects memory and developed a method called The Autobiographical Interview. Autobiographical memory refers to the personal life experiences and events that form our individual histories—from significant milestones to everyday moments that shape who we are.
The types of autobiographical memories explored were personalized and varied, tailored to each participant’s individual experiences. It covered a wide range of past experiences, from significant life events to more mundane, everyday experiences, all of which were unique to the individual’s life history.
The details about the memories were categorized into two main types: internal and external details.
Internal Details Include:
- What happened (events, actions)
- Where it occurred (location, spatial information)
- When it took place (temporal context)
- Sensory information (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch)
- Emotional and cognitive states at the time
External Details Include:
- General facts about the event
- Related but non-central information
- Repeated information
- Meta-cognitive thoughts about the memory itself
The researchers then scored each memory on how rich or full of detail it was, using a scale from ‘not at all’ to ‘perfect.’ They also scored how confident people felt about the accuracy of their memories using the same scale. This was because some people were very sure of their memories, while others were not as confident.
After sorting memories into internal and external details and scoring them for episodic richness and confidence, researchers followed up with three general questions:
- How difficult is it typically for you to recall autobiographical memories?
- How difficult is it typically for you to orient yourself spatially?
- How difficult is it typically for you to use your imagination?
Brain Scan Findings: The Neural Basis of Memory Differences
The researchers then used an fMRI machine—a special type of brain scanner—to see how people remember personal experiences or solve simple math problems. They designed a test where participants saw words like ‘a party’ on a screen and then had to think of a related personal memory, such as their 20th birthday party. They were asked to dive deep into that memory, thinking about all the details they could, like what they saw, heard, and felt during that moment. Afterward, they rated how vividly they could recall that memory.
In another part of the test, participants solved basic math problems and then rated how easy or difficult they found them. This whole process was not only about recalling memories or solving math, but also about understanding which parts of the brain get busy when we perform these tasks.
Using fMRI brain imaging, researchers discovered three critical differences in how people with aphantasia process memories:
1. Decreased Hippocampal Activation
The hippocampus, the brain’s primary memory center, shows reduced activity during memory recall in individuals with aphantasia. This explains why detailed memory retrieval is more challenging.
2. Altered Brain Connectivity
People with aphantasia show disrupted communication between the hippocampus and visual cortex, the brain region responsible for processing visual information.
3. Reduced Memory Vividness
Brain scans confirmed that individuals with aphantasia experience less vivid memory recall, correlating with their subjective reports.
Understanding the Research: Why Memory Feels Different
For many people with aphantasia, memory has always felt different. We never understood how or why others would describe “reliving” their past experiences so vividly, as if watching a movie in their minds. Now we know why—and the science validates what our community has long experienced.
This comprehensive research provided crucial insights into the differences in memory processing between those with and without aphantasia. The findings validate this different memory experience through three key discoveries:
1. Confirmed Memory Challenges
People with aphantasia consistently recall fewer details and report lower confidence in their memories
2. Neural Evidence
Brain scans provide biological proof of different memory processing, not just subjective differences.
3. Visual-Memory Connection
This research demonstrates how crucial visual imagination is for rich autobiographical memory formation.
Merlin Monzel, a co-author and doctoral student at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Bonn, shares in Neuroscience News:
“We found that people with aphantasia have more difficulty recalling memories. Not only do they report fewer details, but their narratives are less vivid and their confidence in their own memory is diminished. This suggests that our ability to remember our personal biography is closely linked to our imagination.”
Remembering the Past With Aphantasia: Real Stories From Our Community
The challenges with memory are very real for our aphantasia community. This research validates what many experience daily—but behind every study are real people navigating life without mental imagery. Here are some stories from our community members who’ve shared their personal journeys with aphantasia and memory.
1. Learning and Remembering, With or Without Aphantasia
Memory is tricky, whether you have aphantasia or not. Here are some strategies you can use to learn and remember.
2. Aphantasia and SDAM – Gifts of Healing
When your life has been filled with trauma, you have to wonder: could aphantasia and SDAM be the source of the trauma, or could they be the means of healing?
3. Memories Inside Schrödinger’s Box
A cat that is both alive and dead. Memories that exist, yet they don’t. Schrödinger’s Box and the mystery of memory in aphantasia.
Understanding Memory Without Mental Images
This research finally validates what many of us with aphantasia have always known: our memories feel fundamentally different. Without the ability to visualize, remembering the past becomes a completely different experience.
The science is clear—visual imagination and autobiographical memory are deeply interconnected. When you can’t create mental images, it doesn’t just affect what you remember, but how you connect with your personal history and relate to others who can vividly relive their past.
These findings open important pathways for better understanding and support for our community.
