Abstract
Aphantasia is characterised by the inability to create mental images in one’s mind. Studies investigating impairments in imagery typically focus on the visual domain. However, it is possible to generate many different forms of imagery including imagined auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, motor, taste and other experiences. Recent studies show that individuals with aphantasia report a lack of imagery in modalities, other than vision, including audition. However, to date, no research has examined whether these reductions in self-reported auditory imagery are associated with decrements in tasks that require auditory imagery. Understanding the extent to which visual and auditory imagery deficits co-occur can help to better characterise the core deficits of aphantasia and provide an alternative perspective on theoretical debates on the extent to which imagery draws on modality-specific or modality-general processes. In the current study, individuals that self-identified as being aphantasic and matched control participants with typical imagery performed two tasks: a musical pitch-based imagery and voice-based categorisation task. The majority of participants with aphantasia self-reported significant deficits in both auditory and visual imagery. However, we did not find a concomitant decrease in performance on tasks which require auditory imagery, either in the full sample or only when considering those participants that reported significant deficits in both domains. These findings are discussed in relation to the mechanisms that might obscure observation of imagery deficits in auditory imagery tasks in people that report reduced auditory imagery.
What This Study Is About
Researchers wanted to know if people who say they can’t “hear” sounds in their heads actually struggle with tasks that involve imagining music or voices. They were looking for a link between a person’s internal experience and their actual ability to process sounds.
How They Studied It
The team compared 29 people with aphantasia—the inability to create mental imagery (the ability to picture or "hear" things in your mind)—to 30 people with typical imagery.
Participants completed two main challenges:
1. The Pitch Task: They looked at lyrics from famous songs (like Whitney Houston’s "I Wanna Dance with Somebody") and had to decide if one imagined word was higher or lower in pitch than another.
2. The Voice Task: They listened to "morphed" voices that blended two different people together and had to categorize which speaker they sounded like most.
What They Found
The results were a surprise! Even though the aphantasic group reported having a "silent mind" with almost no internal sound, they performed just as well as the control group. Whether it was judging musical notes or recognizing a voice, there was no significant difference in speed or accuracy. It was as if they were getting the right answers even without a "mental soundtrack" playing in their heads.
What This Might Mean
This study suggests a fascinating "disconnect" between what we feel is happening in our minds and what our brains are actually capable of. It suggests that people with aphantasia might be using "backdoor" strategies—like using facts, spatial logic, or verbal cues—to solve problems without needing to "hear" the sound.
However, we have to be careful: this was a relatively small study of 59 people. While it *suggests* that mental hearing isn't necessary for these tasks, it doesn't *prove* that aphantasics process sound exactly the same way as everyone else.
One Interesting Detail
The researchers found that aphantasia is rarely just about "sight." In this study, 72% of the participants who couldn't see pictures in their minds also reported that they couldn't hear internal sounds, showing that for many, the "mind's eye" and the "mind's ear" are linked!