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Aphantasia Logo
Back to all discussions
Community

Join the conversation and share your experiences with the community.

Start a Discussion
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Please remember to:

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  • • Help others feel welcome
You're not alone

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Building awareness and understanding of aphantasia through research, education, and community support.

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  • What is Aphantasia?
  • What is Hyperphantasia?
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  • Contact

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Are the brains of people with congenital and acquired aphantasia the same?

June 14, 20241 min readByGabriella LaPlace
Acquired Aphantasia
Is congenital aphantasia different to acquired aphantasia in the brain ?

Are the brains of people with congenital and acquired aphantasia the same?

June 14, 20241 min readByGabriella LaPlace
Acquired Aphantasia
Is congenital aphantasia different to acquired aphantasia in the brain ?
Aphantasia Logo
J
Jennifer McDougall•recently•edited
From what we understand, congenital aphantasia and acquired aphantasia do differ in the brain. Congenital aphantasia is present from birth and involves differences in brain development, particularly in the connectivity and function of areas related to visual imagery and memory. Acquired aphantasia occurs due to brain injury or trauma later in life, typically involving damage to specific brain regions responsible for visual processing and memory. Interestingly, it was an acquired case of aphantasia, Patient MX, that led to the identification of congenital aphantasia. After the paper "A case of ‘blind imagination’," in which Patient MX describes losing the ability to visualize, was published, 21 people with congenital aphantasia reported that they had never been able to visualize. Here's a link to Dr. Zeman's original paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26792259_Loss_of_imagery_phenomenology_with_intact_visuo-spatial_task_performance_A_case_of_'blind_imagination'
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