What does your creative process look like?

Whether you visualize – or not – it doesn’t define you, nor does it link with the quality of what you can produce. There are extraordinarily talented artists on both ends of the spectrum from aphantasia, inability to visualize in the mind’s eye, to hyperphantasia or hyper-vivid, almost lifelike imagination. Not convinced? Ed Catmull, founder […]

Fiction or non-fiction?

Some aphantasics prefer non-fiction over fiction or fantasy novels, as they cannot create mental images of scenes or characters. What’s your preference?

The line between memory and imagination?

As someone who’s hyperphatastic, I wonder how often my imagination gets in the way of my true memories. If I am able to creates such intense images in my mind, to the point where they feel real with all of my senses, would you perhaps think that when recalling true memories, my mind adds or […]

Where is aphantasia research happening?

Aphantasia research is taking place at the following institutions globally (that we’re aware of): University of Exeter, UK, led by Dr. Adam Zeman and the Eye’s Mind Lab UNSW and Future Minds Lab, Sydney Australia led by cognitive scientist Prof Joel Pearson University of Westminster, UK Icelandic Vision Lab, Iceland The University of Sussex and […]

Visual or all senses?

Aphantasia isn’t limited to just visual imagination; it can impact 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 (kind of) smell and taste it. Or if you think of your favourite song, you can hear the sounds of […]

How did you first discover you were aphantasic?

I always find this question so interesting. For most of my life, I didn’t realize that others were actually visualizing their thoughts and memories… I thought it was more of a figure of speech than a literal description of how people were thinking. I had such a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea […]

How do I know if I have aphantasia?

Give this a shot.. close your eyes and think a close friend or relative. Make sure they’re not in the room with you! Think about the contours of their face, their happy smile, a time you remember laughing together. As you think about this person, are there any visual representations of them in your mind? […]