AphantasiaResearch
Explore a comprehensive collection of academic papers, research studies, and scientific publications about aphantasia, imagery, and cognitive neuroscience.
The potential risks of opening the mind’s eye with psychedelic therapies
People with aphantasia may gain visual mental imagery after using psychedelics like psilocybin, raising concerns about mental health risks. The authors advocate for informed consent and awareness of these unexpected side effects in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Koenig-Robert, R., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2025). The potential risks of opening the mind’s eye with psychedelic therapies. Cortex, 191, 167–171. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2025.08.002
Why indecisive trials matter: Improving the binocular rivalry imagery priming score for the assessment of aphantasia
This study improves the binocular rivalry priming score for reliably identifying people with aphantasia, a condition marked by absent or reduced mental imagery. The enhanced measure outperforms existing methods and is recommended for future aphantasia research.
Monzel, M., Scholz, C. O., Pearson, J., & Reuter, M. (2025). Why indecisive trials matter: improving the binocular rivalry imagery priming score for the assessment of aphantasia. Behavior Research Methods, 57(9). doi:10.3758/s13428-025-02780-6
Imageless imagery in aphantasia revealed by early visual cortex decoding
Aphantasic individuals lack conscious visual imagery but show neural activity in visual cortex during imagery attempts. The study suggests this activity may not encode meaningful visual information, remaining functionally unclear.
Chang, S., Zhang, X., Cao, Y., Pearson, J., & Meng, M. (2025). Imageless imagery in aphantasia revealed by early visual cortex decoding. Current Biology, 35(3), 591–599.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.012
Definition: Aphantasia
No abstract available.
Zeman, A., Monzel, M., Pearson, J., Scholz, C. O., & Simner, J. (2025). Definition: aphantasia. Cortex, 182, 212–213. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2024.07.019
Slower but more accurate mental rotation performance in aphantasia linked to differences in cognitive strategies
People with aphantasia perform mental rotation tasks effectively using alternative strategies despite lacking visual imagery. This suggests visual imagery is not necessary for spatial cognition, challenging assumptions about mental rotation.
Kay, L., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2024). Slower but more accurate mental rotation performance in aphantasia linked to differences in cognitive strategies. Consciousness and Cognition, 121, 103694. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2024.103694
Revisiting the blind mind: Still no evidence for sensory visual imagery in individuals with aphantasia
Individuals with aphantasia lack sensory visual imagery, as demonstrated using the binocular rivalry paradigm with 55 participants. This replicates prior findings, providing objective evidence that aphantasia involves more than just a metacognitive difference.
Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2024). Revisiting the blind mind: still no evidence for sensory visual imagery in individuals with aphantasia. Neuroscience Research, 201, 27–30. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2024.01.008
Multisensory subtypes of aphantasia: Mental imagery as supramodal perception in reverse
Research identifies distinct aphantasia subtypes with varying multisensory imagery deficits rather than uniform visual impairment. Approximately 26% experience total imagery absence across all senses while others retain partial multisensory capacity.
Dawes, A. J., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2024). Multisensory subtypes of aphantasia: mental imagery as supramodal perception in reverse. Neuroscience Research, 201, 50–59. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2023.11.009
Different Mechanisms for Supporting Mental Imagery and Perceptual Representations: Modulation Versus Excitation
Mental imagery and perception use different brain mechanisms: perception relies on excitatory activity while imagery works by suppressing non-imagined content. This explains why imagined experiences feel less vivid than actual perceptions.
Pace, T., Koenig-Robert, R., & Pearson, J. (2023). Different mechanisms for supporting mental imagery and perceptual representations: modulation versus excitation. Psychological Science, 34(11), 1229–1243. doi:10.1177/09567976231198435
Imageless imagery in aphantasia: decoding non-sensory imagery in aphantasia
People with aphantasia generate stimulus-specific neural activity in visual cortex during imagery attempts, but in a different format than perception, lacking conscious visual experience. This suggests aphantasia involves failed sensory representation rather than absent brain activity.
Meng, M., Chang, S., Zhang, X., & Pearson, J. (n.d.). Imageless imagery in aphantasia: decoding non-sensory imagery in aphantasia. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3162223/v1
Reliable and predictive non-perceptual representations in primary visual cortex during attempts at visual imagery in aphantasia
Visual imagery is an important function of the human brain, and previous research on visual imagery reported that imagined stimuli can be decoded in early visual areas, while some other studies claimed that visual imagery generation relied more on higher-level cortical regions. Using fMRI the current study used multi-voxel decoding of attempts at generating visual mental imagery in early visual areas in individuals with aphantasia (lack the ability to voluntarily generate visual imagery). Participants with aphantasia (N = 14) and control (N = 18) groups were asked to generate mental imagery of Gabor patches of different orientations in the left or right visual field. We found that, activation patterns in the V1 and V2 of both aphantasic and control groups could be used to decode the imagined stimuli. However, for aphantasia, the patterns in early visual areas during imagery could not be used to decode the patterns during passively perceiving the same stimuli, whereas accuracies of this cross-task decoding for the control group were significant. These results suggest that aphantasic individuals, are not able to generate neural representations corresponding to perceptual sensory information in the early visual areas via voluntary visual imagery. Consistent with this notion, averaged BOLD activity in the early visual areas of the aphantasic individuals were also atypical during visual imagery, whereas during visual perception a typical contralateral visual field effect was found although slightly weaker than in the control group. For the first time, the current study reports that those with aphantasia do indeed have reliable and predictable neural patterns in early visual cortex during attempts at visual imagery, however these representations diverge from perceptual representations in the same individuals.
Zhang, X., Chang, S., Pearson, J., & Meng, M. (2023). Reliable and predictive non-perceptual representations in primary visual cortex during attempts at visual imagery in aphantasia. Journal of Vision, 23(9), 5060. doi:10.1167/jov.23.9.5060
Fewer intrusive memories in aphantasia: using the trauma film paradigm as a laboratory model of PTSD
Aphantasic individuals (without visual imagery) experienced fewer intrusive memories after trauma exposure compared to controls, though their intrusions were verbal rather than visual. This suggests visual imagery drives PTSD symptom development and flashbacks.
Keogh, R., Wicken, M., & Pearson, J. (n.d.). Fewer intrusive memories in aphantasia: using the trauma film paradigm as a laboratory model of ptsd. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7zqfe
Memories with a blind mind: Remembering the past and imagining the future with aphantasia
People with aphantasia have reduced episodic memory and future imagination abilities compared to those with visual imagery. Visual imagery acts as an important cognitive tool for retrieving and combining past memories and imagining future events.
Dawes, A. J., Keogh, R., Robuck, S., & Pearson, J. (2022). Memories with a blind mind: remembering the past and imagining the future with aphantasia. Cognition, 227, 105192. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105192
Proposal for a consistent definition of aphantasia and hyperphantasia: A response to Lambert and Sibley (2022) and Simner and Dance (2022)
Researchers defend unified terminology (aphantasia/hyperphantasia) for mental imagery extremes across all sensory modalities. They argue this avoids confusing proliferation of terms while accommodating dissociations between individual senses.
Monzel, M., Mitchell, D., Macpherson, F., Pearson, J., & Zeman, A. (2022). Proposal for a consistent definition of aphantasia and hyperphantasia: a response to lambert and sibley (2022) and simner and dance (2022). Cortex, 152, 74–76. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2022.04.003
Aphantasia, dysikonesia, anauralia: call for a single term for the lack of mental imagery–Commentary on Dance et al. (2021) and Hinwar and Lambert (2021)
Researchers advocate adopting "aphantasia" as the single unified term for lacking mental imagery across all sensory modalities. The term is already widely used in research and public discourse, making standardization efficient for communication and literature searches.
Monzel, M., Mitchell, D., Macpherson, F., Pearson, J., & Zeman, A. (2022). Aphantasia, dysikonesia, anauralia: call for a single term for the lack of mental imagery–commentary on dance et al. (2021) and hinwar and lambert (2021). Cortex, 150, 149–152. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2022.02.002
The pupillary light response as a physiological index of aphantasia, sensory and phenomenological imagery strength
This study shows pupillary light responses reflect visual imagery strength. It provides the first objective physiological evidence confirming aphantasia as a genuine neurological condition where individuals lack visual imagery.
Kay, L., Keogh, R., Andrillon, T., & Pearson, J. (2022). The pupillary light response as a physiological index of aphantasia, sensory and phenomenological imagery strength. eLife, 11. doi:10.7554/eLife.72484
Visual working memory in aphantasia: Retained accuracy and capacity with a different strategy
People without visual imagery (aphantasia) perform normally on visual working memory tasks. This suggests visual imagery isn't essential for visual working memory, challenging assumptions about their relationship.
Keogh, R., Wicken, M., & Pearson, J. (2021). Visual working memory in aphantasia: retained accuracy and capacity with a different strategy. Cortex, 143, 237–253. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2021.07.012
Aphantasia: The science of visual imagery extremes
Aphantasia, the inability to visualize mentally, affects 1-4% of people and can be congenital or acquired. Research suggests it comprises multiple subtypes with distinct neural bases and impacts autobiographical memory more than visual working memory.
Keogh, R., Pearson, J., & Zeman, A. (n.d.). Aphantasia: the science of visual imagery extremes. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 277–296. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-821377-3.00012-X
The critical role of mental imagery in human emotion: insights from fear-based imagery and aphantasia
People with aphantasia show reduced physiological fear responses to imagined scenarios compared to controls, supporting visual imagery as an emotional amplifier. This provides the first evidence that visual imagery is crucial for emotional amplification during fearful thought.
Wicken, M., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2021). The critical role of mental imagery in human emotion: insights from fear-based imagery and aphantasia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1946), 20210267. doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.0267
A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia
People with aphantasia lack visual imagery but show reduced imagery across other sensory domains. The study reveals visual imagery serves a key role in episodic memory and dreaming, though not spatial abilities.
Dawes, A. J., Keogh, R., Andrillon, T., & Pearson, J. (2020). A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65705-7
Cortical excitability controls the strength of mental imagery
This study demonstrates that visual cortex excitability controls mental imagery strength, with lower excitability producing stronger imagery. Using tDCS, researchers causally showed that manipulating cortical excitability can modulate imagery, offering potential treatments for disorders involving visual hallucinations.
Keogh, R., Bergmann, J., & Pearson, J. (2020). Cortical excitability controls the strength of mental imagery. eLife, 9. doi:10.7554/eLife.50232