Thanks! Doing that little "test" was very enlightening! I did see the apple --red, fairly clear. It gave me a much better sense of what regular visualizers are describing --but that is hard for me to understand since I really don't have visual imagery. I also connected for me something that I do experience which is closer to visual imagery (what happens when I think of certain photos that are on display in my home (and have been there for a long time) which I see all the time.

I, too, am new to learning about my aphantasia. Your description and the comments below it are so familiar to me. So interesting!

Hi- I'm new to this network and this is the first time I am posting a comment. I'll start by saying that like others, for many years I was unaware of this difference in visualization. I knew it was rare for me to remember dreams and other people always seemed surprised by this. I also eventually noticed that friends sometimes talked about seeing scenes from books they were reading and I really didn't understand what they were talking about. Well into adulthood I came to realize that what I called my "visual memory" was very weak. I couldn't tell you what a person I just met looked like or remember what someone was wearing. I am a retired reading teacher and I used to encourage my students to notice what they were seeing when they were reading --providing exercises to help them notice these visualizations. I did this because I learned that visualizing was one of many strategies that good readers use. It was then that I became more conscious of the fact that I don't do this. Although I am an avid reader and love fiction, I do not "have pictures in my head" when I read. So I'd say I've been aware that I was a person who is less able to visualize than other people I knew --I didn't think it was a big deal and certainly didn't know it had a name or that there were people researching this condition. A few years ago I did come across an article or something that introduced me to the fact that this is a condition --and I found that quite fascinating. I read a little about aphantasia and probably mentioned it to a couple of friends, but that was about it. Then a few weeks ago a friend mentioned an interview on our local PBS radio station. I listened that night and have now signed up for this network's email. I am only now starting to realize other impacts this lack of visualization has in my life --like understanding for the first time why I have such a hard time navigating in unfamiliar places and why I can get so disoriented even in familiar parts of town. I am finding it very interesting reading about other people's experiences with aphantasia and want to learn more. I am also looking forward to talking with friends and relatives about the vivid imagery that they see. I have tried to do one of the quick questionnaires to help determine where I am on the aphantasia spectrum --but I am really having trouble answering the questions. I know I don't have vivid images. But do I have vague or dim images or no images at all? I really don't know. I try to visualize my daughter for the first set of questions --or the sunset questions and I really don't know which box to check. "No image, I just know I am thinking about the object" or "Vague or dim image." I start to answer "vague or dim" --but then I return to "No image." I know what my daughter looks like or what a sunset looks like, ! but do I see it? I don't think I do. Maybe it is kind of like asking a colorblind person about what they see when looking at a color. I guess my question is --if I'm not sure I see any image, does that mean I don't see an image --and just know I am thinking about the object and know some facts about it? Not being able to do the questionnaire is kind of driving me crazy.

Thanks! Doing that little "test" was very enlightening! I did see the apple --red, fairly clear. It gave me a much better sense of what regular visualizers are describing --but that is hard for me to understand since I really don't have visual imagery. I also connected for me something that I do experience which is closer to visual imagery (what happens when I think of certain photos that are on display in my home (and have been there for a long time) which I see all the time.

I, too, am new to learning about my aphantasia. Your description and the comments below it are so familiar to me. So interesting!

Hi- I'm new to this network and this is the first time I am posting a comment. I'll start by saying that like others, for many years I was unaware of this difference in visualization. I knew it was rare for me to remember dreams and other people always seemed surprised by this. I also eventually noticed that friends sometimes talked about seeing scenes from books they were reading and I really didn't understand what they were talking about. Well into adulthood I came to realize that what I called my "visual memory" was very weak. I couldn't tell you what a person I just met looked like or remember what someone was wearing. I am a retired reading teacher and I used to encourage my students to notice what they were seeing when they were reading --providing exercises to help them notice these visualizations. I did this because I learned that visualizing was one of many strategies that good readers use. It was then that I became more conscious of the fact that I don't do this. Although I am an avid reader and love fiction, I do not "have pictures in my head" when I read. So I'd say I've been aware that I was a person who is less able to visualize than other people I knew --I didn't think it was a big deal and certainly didn't know it had a name or that there were people researching this condition. A few years ago I did come across an article or something that introduced me to the fact that this is a condition --and I found that quite fascinating. I read a little about aphantasia and probably mentioned it to a couple of friends, but that was about it. Then a few weeks ago a friend mentioned an interview on our local PBS radio station. I listened that night and have now signed up for this network's email. I am only now starting to realize other impacts this lack of visualization has in my life --like understanding for the first time why I have such a hard time navigating in unfamiliar places and why I can get so disoriented even in familiar parts of town. I am finding it very interesting reading about other people's experiences with aphantasia and want to learn more. I am also looking forward to talking with friends and relatives about the vivid imagery that they see. I have tried to do one of the quick questionnaires to help determine where I am on the aphantasia spectrum --but I am really having trouble answering the questions. I know I don't have vivid images. But do I have vague or dim images or no images at all? I really don't know. I try to visualize my daughter for the first set of questions --or the sunset questions and I really don't know which box to check. "No image, I just know I am thinking about the object" or "Vague or dim image." I start to answer "vague or dim" --but then I return to "No image." I know what my daughter looks like or what a sunset looks like, ! but do I see it? I don't think I do. Maybe it is kind of like asking a colorblind person about what they see when looking at a color. I guess my question is --if I'm not sure I see any image, does that mean I don't see an image --and just know I am thinking about the object and know some facts about it? Not being able to do the questionnaire is kind of driving me crazy.