Instead of a popcorn analogy, wouldn't a "water pump" analogy be better? I find that thinking of the visual cortex being "less excitable" in people with better mental imagery is backward. It is because their internal "stimulus" is already primed and ready to go that they need more electrical stimulation to override their internal electrical stimulation, and someone with aphantasia needs less because their internal stimulation is so non-existent that any amount will trigger visualization. This is the water pump analogy: does it take more or less water to prime a water pump that is already primed (visualizers)? And how about a water pump that is not primed at all (aphantsians)? 

Instead of a popcorn analogy, wouldn't a "water pump" analogy be better? I find that thinking of the visual cortex being "less excitable" in people with better mental imagery is backward. It is because their internal "stimulus" is already primed and ready to go that they need more electrical stimulation to override their internal electrical stimulation, and someone with aphantasia needs less because their internal stimulation is so non-existent that any amount will trigger visualization. This is the water pump analogy: does it take more or less water to prime a water pump that is already primed (visualizers)? And how about a water pump that is not primed at all (aphantsians)?