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The role of subjective interoception in autobiographical deficits in aphantasia

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-23270-x
Tags:
EmotionHypophantasiaMemory
2 more
Monzel, M., Nagai, Y., & Silvanto, J. (2025). The role of subjective interoception in autobiographical deficits in aphantasia. Scientific Reports, 15(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-23270-x

Abstract

Autobiographical memory deficits are well-documented in aphantasia, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Emerging models suggest that interoception plays a crucial role in mental imagery, a key component of memory retrieval. In this study, we investigate the relationship between self-reported interoception, mental imagery, and autobiographical memory, with a specific focus on aphantasia. First, we examined whether interoceptive awareness and autobiographical memory differ between individuals with core aphantasia ( n = 69), hypophantasia ( n = 266) and typical imagers ( n = 133). Our findings reveal that aphantasics report significantly lower autobiographical memory as well as subjective interoceptive awareness across key subscales, including emotional awareness and noticing. Secondly, a mediation analysis reveals that mental imagery mediates the relationship between the emotional awareness subscale of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) questionnaire and autobiographical memory, suggesting that subjective interoception may contribute to memory recall indirectly through its influence on imagery. These findings provide novel empirical support for the idea that interoception is linked to both mental imagery and memory retrieval. The reduced interoceptive awareness observed in aphantasia may contribute to their known deficits in autobiographical memory, positioning aphantasia as a condition that extends beyond a lack of mental imagery to include altered interoceptive processing.

Authors

  • Merlin Monzel30
  • Yoko Nagai4
  • Juha Silvanto14

What This Study Is About

Researchers wanted to know if aphantasia—the "blind mind’s eye"—is linked to how well people sense what’s happening inside their own bodies. They explored whether this "inner body awareness" is the secret ingredient that helps us remember our pasts.

How They Studied It

The team looked at 468 people and split them into three groups:
  • Core Aphantasics: People with no mental imagery (the ability to picture things in your mind).
  • Hypophantasics: People with very weak mental imagery.
  • Typical Imagers: People who can easily visualize.
Participants completed detailed surveys about their memory, the vividness of their thoughts, and their interoception—which is your brain's ability to "listen" to your body, like feeling your heart race when you're nervous or noticing your breathing.

What They Found

The study discovered that people with aphantasia don't just have a quiet "mind's eye"; they also have a quieter connection to their bodies. They reported being significantly less aware of internal bodily signals compared to typical imagers.
The researchers found that mental imagery acts like a bridge. It takes those internal body signals and "paints" them into our memories. Because people with aphantasia lack this bridge, their memories of personal life events often feel less detailed or "dimmer" than those of other people.

What This Might Mean

This suggests that aphantasia isn't just about "vision"—it might be a different way of experiencing the self and the body. It implies that to truly "relive" a memory, your brain needs to recreate the physical feelings you had at the time.
However, we should be careful: this study relied on self-reporting (people describing their own feelings), which can be subjective. While it *suggests* a strong link between body awareness and memory, we need more studies using tools like heart-rate monitors to *prove* exactly how the body and mind are talking to each other.

One Interesting Detail

The researchers found that "emotional awareness"—specifically knowing how your body physically reacts to feelings—was the single best predictor of how well someone could remember the "episodes" of their life.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain errors. Always refer to the original paper for accuracy.