I've always though it as having the process in the backstage and just not sharing the feed; I'm very good with spacial reasoning while being 100% aphantasic. I recently read a study that proposed that it may be related with the noise to signal ratio in the communication between part of the visual cortex and the hippocampus¹ and another linking Aphantasia with an asymmetry in the connectivity from the retina to the visual cortex and the same in reversed direction (I couldn't find the ref now). It's too soon to tell, but both seem like reasonably explanations. ¹Monzel Merlin, Leelaarporn Pitshaporn, Lutz Teresa, Schultz Johannes, Brunheim Sascha, Reuter Martin, McCormick Cornelia (2024) Hippocampal-occipital connectivity reflects autobiographical memory deficits in aphantasia eLife 13:RP94916
The thing is, there is a better verb?, and AFAIK sometimes it is not congenital and may be symptom for a problem also I think that when there's a test involved "diagnose" come to mind, wouldn't feel "weird" to be diagnosed with some condition that makes me faster or stronger than normal. I do find the term imprecise but I'm not bothered by it TBH.
yea, and happens that sometimes I get more emotional with a movie that I'm watching right now, than with a past event, which is also confounding to others. Which has the plus-side that resentment is very difficult for me and if you want to keep being mad at someone you have to make the conscious effort to not let go, and is very draining, so usually you just let go and the anger pass quickly. The peril of that is that you have to be aware of that and make the mental note or you may fall many times in the same mistake. Not much aftertaste as warning for the next time.
and the tricky part. communication wise, is the last part of your comment, because the limitation is not necessarily about the emotional range or deepness, just recalling. The fact that some past event doesn't trigger an emotion now, doesn't mean that the same now wouldn't or that didn't in the first event. Because, apparently, for other people there is a strong emotional bond between past and present, when we lack this "connection" a callousness is assumed and people can act accordingly. Which can hurt the "present us" XD. Just as the miscommunication with the "imaginary" this can be hard to explain. Until I got aware of this I had an internal dissonance between the callousness other saw in me (and I believed) and what I felt in the moment taking it like a "strange event" not a part of myself
May it be all connected? is aphantasia related to emotions/feelings too? just as people can "see" memories, can they also "feel" them? feel like they felt?, I've always felt like an emotional golden fish, out of sight out of mind, I know how I felt but there is no emotion attached to it, is like someone in my head is coldly telling me what happened. Which is great to make level headed desitions but not much for keeping relationships; and require an intellectual effort and attention to not hurt others. But it may also be related to the fact that I may be Aspie (although the term is not longer used).
All senses, but is like someone in my brain is smelling, visualizing, tasting and feeling; because I can somehow anticipate where and how something is gonna fit in a space; how should I put my furniture to look more appealing to me; what I want to eat and listen, this "internal guy" just give me the answers, doesn't let me see, hear, etc.
I'm pretty sure I dream with pictures, less sure about sound, I'm also don't think I see faces, I just kinda know who was involved but I don't remember seing faces. When I doze off I can see like remanents but I quicky lose them when I wake up. I rarely have nightmares, and many times I enjoy dreams that should be scary somehow; I still can remember an awesome dream I had years ago in which I was traped in a hounted house and other in which I was alone in an infested place with zombies; I remember clearly that they felt so interesting and fun and I even woke up smiling from both. I don't think is related to aphantasia but is weird and just came to me right now.