I have aphantasia. I am also a highly sensitive person with traits validated by Elaine Aron's research. One of these traits is sensory processing sensitivity. I am sensitive to pain, sound, smell, lights, touch, temperature, etc. As a young woman, I excelled in mathematics, enjoying the experience as a way of distancing myself from a turbulent emotional environment. I have good spatial skills and have experienced aphantasia most of my life. When focusing on research, I am less distracted by externals, but when my mind is free, I am aware of named distractions. Recently I read that "Aphantasics experience lower levels of sensory sensitivity, overwhelm from “sensory inputs that might be bright lights, loud noises, or the smell of perfume,” says Carla Dance, a doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex in the U.K." I was puzzled by this finding and so would like to put this question out to the community. Does anyone in the community with aphantasia also experience sensory processing sensitivity or identify as a HSP. To clarify, sensory processing sensitivity differs from sensory processing disorder.
Thank you for your response to this inquiry.