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Diversity of aphantasia revealed by multiple assessments of the capability for multi-sensory imagery

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1703706/v1
Takahashi, J., Saito, G., Omura, K., Yasunaga, D., Sugimura, S., Sakamoto, S., Horikawa, T., & Gyoba, J. (n.d.). Diversity of aphantasia revealed by multiple assessments of the capability for multi-sensory imagery. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1703706/v1

Abstract

Aphantasia is a characteristic in which people with normal perception have difficulty constructing their imagination. Most previous studies have used the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), with some using self-identification of the absence of visual imagery, but there is a discrepancy between the proportions of aphantasia in the population calculated by these two criteria. It is unclear why this difference exists and how many people actually cannot form imagery. Moreover, because visual imagery is mainly focused upon, other types of aphantasia, relating to multi-sensory imagery, have not been fully investigated. We conducted an online sampling with a large number of participants (N = 2,885) to compare the proportions of aphantasia calculated by these two visual criteria, obtaining data from the same participants, and investigate the cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery. The participants completed the VVIQ and Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI) and self-identified an absence of visual imagery. The proportions were 3.67% under the VVIQ criteria (VVIQ ≤ 32) and 12.24% under the self-identification of the absence of visual imagery criteria, roughly replicating the proportions of previous reports. Combining these visual criteria, in the group for low VVIQ (VVIQ ≤ 32), some participants showed the absence of all sensory imagery, while others showed specifically an absence of visual imagery. Individuals with aphantasia, identified by visual criteria, may have been mixed with those experiencing multi-sensory aphantasia. Our present study indicates that visual criteria are not sufficient to define multiple types of aphantasia and proposes that evaluations with multi-sensory imagery may help further characterize aphantasia for other types of sensory modality.

Authors

  • Junichi Takahashi3
  • Godai Saito2
  • Kazufumi Omura3
  • Daichi Yasunaga2
  • Shinichiro Sugimura3
  • Shuichi Sakamoto2
  • Tomoyasu Horikawa3
  • Jiro Gyoba2

What This Study Is About

Researchers wanted to see if aphantasia—the inability to visualize or "see" pictures in your mind—is more diverse than we thought. They investigated whether people who can’t create mental images also struggle to imagine sounds, smells, or touches.

How They Studied It

A large group of 2,885 people in Japan participated in this online study. They completed several surveys, including the VVIQ (a famous test that asks you to rate how vivid your mental images are) and a multi-sensory questionnaire. This second test checked if they could imagine other things, like the sound of a whistle or the smell of a rose. The researchers compared people who scored low on the tests with those who simply "self-identified" as having aphantasia.

What They Found

The study discovered that aphantasia isn't "one size fits all."
  • The Measurement Gap: Only about 3.7% of people were labeled as aphantasic by the official test, but over 12% of people *felt* they had it. This shows that the standard test might be missing something!
  • Sensory Flavors: The researchers found two main groups. Some people have "total" aphantasia, where their mind’s eye, ear, and nose are all "turned off." Others have "visual-only" aphantasia—they can’t see a mental apple, but they can still "hear" the crunch or "smell" the fruit in their imagination.

What This Might Mean

This suggests that the human imagination is like a multi-channel TV. For some, the screen is blank, but the speakers and "smell-o-vision" still work perfectly. It proves that we need better tools to understand the different ways people experience their inner worlds.
A small note: Because this study focused on Japanese participants, we can't be certain if these exact percentages are the same everywhere in the world, but it strongly suggests that "visual" aphantasia is just one part of a much bigger story.

One Interesting Detail

The researchers found that some people could "see" images according to the tests but still felt they had aphantasia. This hints that there is a big difference between how "bright" a mental picture is and how much a person actually notices or uses that picture in their daily life!
This summary was generated by AI and may contain errors. Always refer to the original paper for accuracy.