Research library
Papers about aphantasia and mental imagery, with summaries in plain words. The summaries are generated by AI and may contain errors.
Want to take part? See the studies you can join.
Running a study? We can help you recruit participants.
Ernst, Kronbichler and Meyer · Scientific Reports
Researchers found that imagining a moral dilemma from a third-person perspective is linked to higher acceptability of harmful actions. This suggests visual perspective, not just vividness, helps shape how we make moral decisions.
Taylor and colleagues · Scientific Reports
Researchers found no meaningful association between mental imagery vividness and sensory sensitivity, despite both correlating with autistic traits. This suggests that imagery and sensory processing may not share a common neural mechanism.
Monzel, Nagai and Silvanto · Scientific Reports
People with aphantasia report significantly lower interceptive awareness and emotional engagement with bodily signals. This suggests that mental imagery plays a key role in linking internal bodily states to the recall of personal memories.
Kwaśniak and colleagues · Scientific Reports
People with aphantasia showed reduced activation in the right middle frontal gyrus and right motor cortex during motor imagery tasks. This suggests that aphantasia involves differences in attentional switching and neural processing beyond just visual imagery.
Welker and colleagues · Scientific Reports
Conceptual priming modulated perception across the vividness spectrum, even when visual imagery priming failed in those with low vividness. This indicates that abstract simulation styles are effective non-visual cognitive strategies.
Dawes and colleagues · Scientific Reports
People with aphantasia reported weaker imagery in all senses, less vivid memories and imagined futures, and fewer dreams, but similar spatial skills. This suggests imagery is a common tool that many mental processes draw on.
Berger and Ehrsson · Scientific Reports
Imagining collision-like sounds can cause people to perceive crossing discs as bouncing, with the effect's strength tied to imagery vividness. This demonstrates that mental imagery can integrate with real sensory input to alter our perception.