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Motor imagery in individuals with congenital aphantasia

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-20168-6
Tags:
Congenital AphantasiaMotor Aphantasia
Kwaśniak, R., Zapała, D., Augustynowicz, P., & Szubielska, M. (2025). Motor imagery in individuals with congenital aphantasia. Scientific Reports, 15(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-20168-6

Abstract

Individuals who experience aphantasia have an inability to create sensory mental images, what lead to a range of cognitive and behavioral differences compared to the general population. However, little is known about how this phenomenon affects the creation of motor imagery. Our study aims to check the differences in changes of hemoglobine concentration between individuals with congenital aphantasia (AG) and control group (CG) during creating a kinesthetic (KMI) or visual-motor (VMI) representation of movement. Twenty participants (10 AG) who participated in the experiment were matched by age, gender, education level, and handedness. During data collection, a hemodynamic signal was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscope (fNIRS). The participants performed a procedure that enabled the control of perspective and cognitive strategies during motor imagery using a haptic interface. The results indicate that AG demonstrate reduced oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in the right middle frontal gyrus and right motor cortex regions. The findings suggest that AG primarily rely on semantic or kinesthetic strategies, while CG tend to use visual cognitive strategies during both the KMI and VMI tasks. Furthermore, we propose that AG may exhibit difficulty with the process of reorienting attention from exogenous to endogenous control.

Authors

  • Robert Kwaśniak1
  • Dariusz Zapała1
  • Paweł Augustynowicz1
  • Magdalena Szubielska1

What This Study Is About

Researchers wanted to know: if you can’t "see" pictures in your mind, how do you imagine moving your body? This study looked at whether people with aphantasia—the inability to create mental imagery (picturing things in your mind)—use different brain strategies to imagine physical actions, like squeezing a handle.

How They Studied It

The team worked with 20 participants: 10 with aphantasia and 10 "visualizers" (the control group). Participants used a high-tech "haptic" device—essentially a smart handle that can feel heavy or springy.
After feeling the handle's resistance, they were asked to perform motor imagery (imagining the feeling or sight of squeezing it) without actually moving. While they did this, researchers used a brain-scanning cap called fNIRS to measure blood flow in the brain and an eye-tracker to watch how their pupils reacted.

What They Found

The most exciting discovery? People with aphantasia were just as accurate at the tasks as the visualizers, but their brains took a totally different "road" to get there!
The brain scans showed that people with aphantasia had significantly less activity in the right side of the brain (the motor cortex and frontal areas) compared to the control group. While visualizers seemed to create a mental "movie" of the movement, people with aphantasia appeared to rely on "semantic" strategies—using facts, words, and the memory of the feeling rather than a mental picture.

What This Might Mean

This suggests that aphantasia isn't just a "missing" feature; it’s a different way of processing information. It shows the brain is incredibly flexible—it can find clever "workarounds" to perform complex tasks even without a visual "monitor" in the mind.
However, because this was a small study with only 20 people, we have to be careful. It *suggests* a pattern, but we need larger studies to *prove* these brain differences are universal for everyone with aphantasia.

One Interesting Detail

The researchers found a physical "tell" in the eyes! While the visualizers' pupils changed size based on what they were imagining, the pupils of those with aphantasia didn't react the same way, providing a objective, physical hint at how differently their minds were working.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain errors. Always refer to the original paper for accuracy.