Visual or all senses?

November 13, 20181 min readByTom Ebeyer

Visual aphantasia is the most common form, but aphantasia isn't necessarily limited to just visual imagination—it can extend to all sensory imagery in the mind.

For example, when most people go to a restaurant and see something on the menu they enjoy, they can almost smell and taste it before ordering. Or think of your favorite song—can you hear the melody and instruments playing in your mind? What about those famous words a parent or teacher said to you growing up—can you hear them in their voice?

For many people with aphantasia, these sensory experiences in the mind work differently, or not at all. Some experience aphantasia only with visual imagery, while others find it extends across multiple senses (multisensory aphantasia)—or even all of them (global aphantasia).

Here's an interesting upside: ever notice how some people get squeamish when someone shares something gross at the dinner table? Many aphants are completely unfazed by this kind of talk—they can discuss the details without their mind conjuring up the unpleasant sensory experience that might ruin someone else's appetite. Is your experience of aphantasia just visual, or does it extend to all your senses?

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Stein Strindhaug•recently•edited

My imagination ability is certainly very varied across the different domains... Visually, I think I have hypophantasia; I can imagine pretty much anything visual I want though I have very little control of exactly what I se, I just see very short half second glimpses of what I imagine in any random configuration. I can only consciously control very abstract things like simple geometric shapes and faces which I'm very good at recognising and remembering, anything else is just brief random "stock photos" with very little detail or colour information which is pretty annoying when I paint or draw, because I always need to find a perfect reference photo, and I have to paint with a colour to figure out if it looks good (which is fortunately easy to undo or modify afterwards when I work digitally) But with music, I probably have hyperphantasia: I can hear music very clearly in my mind, not just the melody but pretty much the whole polyphonic experience of music I know well. Though not the lyrics, because I don't really hear lyrics when it's sung; it just is mumbling to my ears (probably because I have auditory processing disorder). I can also make the instruments play the "wrong notes" isolate a handful of instruments in my mind and only hear it (requires that I've heard it a few times, or it's my own invented music) and I can make the instruments play a different song entirely. In fact most of the time unless I'm extremely focused on a different task or currently listening to (external) music; my mind is almost always filled with music, kind of what people call an ear worm, but it's not annoying to me because it's not simple loops of a melody but full compositions and it's normally pretty varied; and it's no effort at all to just mentally switch to a new song if I start to get tired of the one that is playing. It's only ever annoying when my mind keeps defaulting to a genre I don't like that much for several days; like that one time during the lockdowns when I was hearing waltz and marches in the style of The New Year's Concert for about a week. With smell and taste; I can't really experience them from memory; but since I'm an experienced home cook; I can reason about taste and smell and figure out combinations that will taste good together without actually "mentally tasting it". But when choosing between things I already know (like teas, spices, perfumes) for what I'm in the mood for I have to smell every option to know what I want. Not sure if that's above or below normal ability. I can also "visualise" large codebases in my work; I'm a programmer; and mentally search for things in the code and mentally debug without even looking at the code. But it's not exactly "visual" information; it feels more like some sort of fractal in space of connected ideas and logic that I can zoom and out of or fold out sub dimensions or whatever... very hard to explain; but I think I'm somehow utilising my spatial navigation ability (way more than visual or language ability) to navigate the code in my mind. Whatever it is, it makes me extremely fast at debugging and generally very productive compared to most of my colleagues... well as long as the problem is interesting enough to stimulate me (I have ADHD and autism, so I'm not that good with boring trivial tasks).

Marie Smith•recently•edited

I am a total aphantasic. I have seen only one image in my waking mind and I was quite disturbed by it. I was busy doing something when, as clear as if I was there, I saw the image of a dentists surgery with a boxer dog sitting in the dentist chair. I wasn't thinking about dentists or dogs at the time so the image was quite random, and I was sober! I do dream in full colour, again lifelike. I cannot conjure up smells, tastes, sensations, emotions or sounds. I do get songs stuck in my head, but I do not hear them, just my inner monologue 'singing' the words or dum dum dum-ing the notes. I don't even hear my inner monologue, it is just words appearing in my thoughts with no voice attached. I tried to explain this to my daughter once but she couldn't understand how I could hear my thoughts without "hearing" them, I guess it is difficult to explain what occurs in your mind.

Ryqer Imnotgivingit•recently•edited

I have Aphantasia for all senses, aka I can't recreate any sense in my head, but from what I've heard online is that some people have some but but not all like they can recreate sight but not sound or other combinations so it's probably more like a spectrum then just one but yes I think Aphantasia is more then just visual.

Maggie Badior•recently•edited

I have congenital visual aphantasia. I found out about it nearly a year ago, just after I turned 61. I find it surprising and fun to think about. I can't imagine pictures, smells or tastes, however, my sound, warm childhood feelings, and muscle memories are extremely strong. I have a lot of fun because of these of these memories, but I think having a visual memory would be more useful for practical purposes. Maggie Badior

Connie Angle•recently•edited

So, new to the general topic of aphantasia. I am not sure how much of it has been lifelong, but I would say it is total aphantasia (no inner sight, hearing, smell, taste or touch) at present. I had some pretty heavy childhood trauma and don't hold very concrete memories. I would say for certain it's been at least 9+ years (I had chemo treatments in 2013). I am not sure what is meant by the question of what my "imaginative" experience has been like. I have received a lot of praise from teachers/professors (all the way up to the level of a juris doctorate and a secondary law masters) and employers for "novel" and creative approaches to issues/problems. I have successfully been a fiction writer by trade for over a decade now and a writer/storyteller in general since childhood. I am very empathic and have a strong visceral response to all kinds of stimuli. But, if someone falls flat on their face, the strong, sympathetic twinges occur in my gut, not my face. Someone upthread mentioned "visceral" -- and I can imagine scenarios (again, professionally, all the time) that produce strong physical responses--skin crawling, gut tightening. After learning just how few people fall in the aphantasia category, I realized that I write through visceralization. How do I fashion a scene to produce those strong, physical sensations and concrete mental associations. I also have a little more talent than average for visual arts and can carry a tune (and, at least lyrically, create them as well). As for how I felt when I learned I am aphantasic, w/in a few hours I realized it's kind of an evil superpower and not a handicap of any sort. My husband is highly visual and I've always known that I can, with just a few words, gross him out. Now I understand why and that makes me want to hone my talent even more. One last thing -- I do seem to subvocalize enormously, but don't think it classifies as hearing the sound (so I would categorize it as visceral even if the tongue is not anatomically viscera).

Maarten Serneels•recently•edited

Hi Thomas, definitely all senses for me. I cannot see, hear, smell, taste or feel touch in my mind.

Amit Khanna•recently•edited

Interesting ...I replied to this post a few weeks back and said I was unsure of sound/hearing. Since then I have chatted with my son who says he can definitely hear "voices in his head" when he has conversations with himself. I definitely do not.

Amit Khanna•recently•edited

I cannot smell or taste things in my mind, for sure (wait! can anyone?), but I am unsure of the hearing sounds. I thought I could hear music in my head, but definitely not with the clarity others can (which explains partly my tunelessness) in a way described in Steven Hamilton's question to another post.

Dorothy M Blake•recently•edited

Lack visual, taste, smell senses, but I hear music including instrumentation and voices very clearly. I would admire to have some visual imagery, but would not trade one for the other.

Jeanne Clark•recently•edited

I don't have any sensory imagery in my mind that I am aware of. I am 70 years old and only realized in the past year that other people do experience these things. I do not smell, taste, feel, hear, or see anything that is not actually present in real life.

Ali D•recently•edited

Hi Thomas, it's all the senses for me. Thank you for the links!

Steven Hamilton•recently•edited

I had this conversation with my wife the other day.. I don't think I can smell or taste or hear things in my mind. I can also not picture in my mind. I definitely can think about the beat or tune of the music and I can hum it or sing it in my head with my internal dialogue "voice" but I cant hear it in its "natural sound". When i think of food I think of how it could taste but I don't taste it, my mouth waters and I get hungry and long for the food but I wouldn't describe it as tasting it at all. I do find I get itchy or uncomfortable in my skin when I see someone get hurt or think about touching a hot surface I get a body wide shiver of sorts sometimes. I don't think I'm feeling a burn but I definitely have a physical reaction to seeing someone else get hurt or thinking about putting my hand on a hot stove or getting a bad cut. Maybe that's a form of physical imagining?

Malinda Seppala•recently•edited

I'm just learning, that I have aphantasia.. I didn't know people seen actual images in their head. I also do not hear, taste, or smell with my mind, I was also not aware others could do that!

Steven Hamilton•recently•edited

Im in the same situation, just found out a week or so ago.. very odd to learn about.

Yibing Wang•recently•edited

Nothing expect sounds. I can listen to a song or read someting alond in my mind, but I cannot see, smell or taste.

Steven Hamilton•recently•edited

when you "listen" to the song do you hear all the beats in your mind in the proper instruments? or do you just kinda think the beat in your own "voice" like bumbumbum beda bumbum as if you were to sing it out (but in your head)

Wioleta Whitaker•recently•edited

Definitely total,

Molly Ciliberti•recently•edited

Visual only but complete never had. I hear music in my head and it is as performed that I have heard. I remember tastes and the feeling if things like velvet. I also have a talking idiot in my head that won’t shut up and has opinion on everything. I wish she would move out. Would trade them for visualization.

Inge Werkman•recently•edited

Only visual for me, although other senses are not equally strong. I can "feel" very well and also "hear" good with some concentration, but "smell" is definitely hard as well.

Ester Cela•recently•edited

Hello, a am a 52 year old woman, and I have total aphantasia (probably not aphantasia but more like hypo-hypo-phantasia, as I can sometime conjure up images like ghosts or shadows of what I'm thinking about). It was no big deal for me at all as I thought everyone was like me, though it does finally explain an old fascination on mine about how the heck anyone could possibly do an identikit in police films!!! I wondered for years whether I might be on the autistic spectrum or have a personality disorder, because I just don't feel things as strongly as others, but I guess this actually explains it rather well: if I can't remember what my dog looked like, or the emotions that I felt when I was with him, it will just be that much easier to get over him when he passes. Funny fact: I have tinnitus, but I don't mind it at all, which always fascinates people as it's supposed to be so irritating: I guess it's just because there is now finally something to fill out my empty head! :-)

Maecy Palkki•recently•edited

For me it is all senses. I have never had an inner voice. I've never smelled in my mind or any of what is being described here.

Donna Birdwell•recently•edited

When a reviewer recently described my latest novel as "visceral," I think they nailed it. My imagination is exactly that--a whole-body experiential feeling. I've always had a sketchy memory. Details of events and experiences fade quickly, but the feeling it produced lingers. I'm not talking about emotions. Emotions are a different quality of feeling. When I was in grad school, a friend and I were experimenting with ESP (okay, and mushrooms) and she was looking at cards, trying to communicate the figure depicted on a card to me. I apologized, indicating that I was seeing nothing. And then she noticed that I was moving my hands in patterns that replicated the images on the cards. So...what do you think all this has to do with aphantasia?

Derek Emery•recently•edited

My aphantasia covers all senses which is why I long suspected I had a more restricted internal life than many others, as I could not relate to their experiences. For decades I assumed the mind's eye was fictional and not a real attribute. I guess my restricted viewpoint made the obvious choice for me was to study science and maths and avoid all literary subjects. I suspect many with aphantasia will be engineers like me.

Jeanne Clark•recently•edited

My aphantasia covers all of the senses as well, but I became a librarian. I love to read but also wonder how much of the reading experience others have that I don't. For example, I never understood when people saw a character in a movie based on a book and said that's not how they pictured that person. I thought "mind's eye" was just a way of saying you were thinking about something.

Steven Hamilton•recently•edited

Yes! math, physics and math some more.. I went into engineering because I hate memorization and I think it has something to do with aphantasia.