Pupils reveal 'aphantasia', the absence of visual imagination

July 30, 20241 min readByKieran Gaston

Check out the linked articles below. I thought using pupil dilation to confirm lack of mental visualization was cool and didn't see it on the discussion boards. I asked my wife (has moderate ability to visualize) to cover her eyes then uncover them to get a sense of how much here eyes dilate from dark to light. Then I asked her to visualize looking at the sun then visualize entering a dark room (with her eyes open). She could dilate her eyes on command. And I could tell her when she was visualizing a sun and when she was in a dark room! I've got Aphantasia (multisensory). We tried the same with me. No change as expected. Its a really cool way to prove someone a lack of mental imagery. Link 1: https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2022/04/windows-to-the-soul-pupils-reveal-aphantasia-the-absence-of-visual-imagination#:~:text=The%20pupils%20of%20those%20with%20aphantasia%20dilated%20when%20they%20imagined,not%20in%20a%20visual%20way.%E2%80%9D Link 2: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/the-minds-eye-pupil-size-may-be-indicator-of-aphantasia

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Pupils reveal 'aphantasia', the absence of visual imagination

July 30, 20241 min readByKieran Gaston

Theory & Definitions

Pupils reveal 'aphantasia', the absence of visual imagination

July 30, 20241 min readByKieran Gaston

Theory & Definitions

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Katia Perreira•recently•edited

So interesting! Thank you for sharing!

Jonathan Bates•recently•edited

Interesting! I have at least visual aphantasia, and was in a movie once many years ago when I was about 20 years old. The director wanted get my eye in extreme close-up for one shot, but I didn't know that he wanted my pupil to dilate while he was filming it. When we were rolling, he said to me, "Imagine a naked lady in front of you" (I'm a heterosexual male). Along with some laughter from the crew, he said he got what he wanted. However, I've just tried it by filming my eyes with my phone in selfie mode and it doesn't work. So maybe the dilation was a reaction to something else - like the shock of being told to imagine nakedness when I wasn't expecting it? I can't reproduce that shock on my own though.