Congenital Aphantasia
Congenital aphantasia is the most common form of aphantasia, present from birth though typically discovered later in life. Unlike acquired aphantasia, where individuals experience a loss of mental imagery they once had, those with congenital aphantasia have never experienced mental imagery. This can affect one sensory modality (like visual imagery alone) or multiple senses (multisensory aphantasia), impacting the ability to imagine sounds, textures, tastes, or smells. This innate inability to generate mental imagery leads individuals to develop unique cognitive strategies from their earliest development. While the exact causes remain under investigation, current research points to genetic factors and early neural development. Understanding congenital aphantasia provides valuable insights into the brain's natural variation and alternative modes of thinking. On this page, you'll find aphantasia research, first-person accounts of living with aphantasia, and resources exploring the diverse ways people think and learn without mental imagery.
Mapping the imageless mind: Towards a taxonomy of aphantasia
This article proposes that aphantasia is not a single condition but rather encompasses at least three distinct forms, each with different causes and mechanisms.
Bartolomeo, P. (2025). Mapping the imageless mind: towards a taxonomy of aphantasia. Neuropsychologia, 219, 109276. doi:/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109276
Rethinking Mental Imagery: Why Scientists Had It Wrong (And Why That's Good News)
For decades, neuroscientists assumed they understood mental imagery. Then people with aphantasia proved them wrong—and changed the future of consciousness research.
The Body-Mind Disconnect: How Your Autonomic Nervous System Shapes Mental Imagery
What if the key to understanding mental imagery differences isn't in your brain's visual centers? New research reveals why your ability to visualize may depend on something unexpected: how well you sense your own body.
Aphantasia avant le nom: historical perspectives on the absence or loss of visual imagery
This narrative review examines historical medical and scientific literature to identify cases consistent with aphantasia that were described before the term was coined in 2015, establishing that while the word is new, the phenomenon has been documented for over 100 years.
Larner, A. J. (2025). Aphantasia avant le nom: historical perspectives on the absence or loss of visual imagery. Neuropsychologia, 218, 109254. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109254
Motor imagery in individuals with congenital aphantasia
Individuals with aphantasia, who cannot create mental images, show different brain activity during movement visualization compared to those without this condition. Our study found that aphantasia participants rely more on kinesthetic strategies, while controls use visual strategies. This suggests a unique cognitive approach to imagining movement in those with aphantasia.
Kwaśniak, R., Zapała, D., Augustynowicz, P., & Szubielska, M. (2025). Motor imagery in individuals with congenital aphantasia. Scientific Reports, 15(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-20168-6
“I just see nothing. It’s literally just black”: a qualitative investigation into congenital aphantasia
Participants with aphantasia, a condition where they cannot form visual images, shared their experiences of challenges like recognizing faces and recalling memories. They often relied on verbal descriptions and narratives to cope. While some felt frustrated, others found unique strengths in their non-visual thinking, leading to a mix of fascination and emotional impact in their lives.
Pounder, Z., Agosto, G., Mackenzie, J.-M., & Cheshire, A. (2025). “i just see nothing. it’s literally just black”: a qualitative investigation into congenital aphantasia. Cogent Psychology, 12(1). doi:/10.1080/23311908.2025.2574255
Expanding Aphantasia Definition: Researchers Propose New Boundaries
Researchers expand aphantasia definition beyond "inability to visualize." This broader framework impacts how we understand and identify with the condition.
Definition: Aphantasia
This research defines aphantasia—the inability to form mental images in one's mind—and establishes clear terminology for this cognitive variation. The international team of authors provides foundational definitions distinguishing between visual, auditory, and multisensory forms of aphantasia, while also addressing its congenital and acquired origins. Their work is essential for understanding individual differences in mental imagery and advancing scientific study of the diverse ways people experience imagination.
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
Same Brain, Different Reality: The Neuroscience Behind Aphantasia's Hidden Mechanisms
How a neurologist's decades-long investigation into patients who couldn't "see" half their memories led to groundbreaking discoveries about aphantasia, brain connectivity, and the hidden mechanisms of human imagination.
Aphantasia and Hyperphantasia: What We Know After a Decade of Research
Since 2015, "aphantasia" has reshaped our understanding of imagination, revealing that not everyone visualizes mentally. This discovery, along with "hyperphantasia," highlights the diverse nature of human imagination.
Breaking the Connectivity Code: How The Aphantasia Brain Access Visual Information Without the Mind's Eye
How a brain researcher's journey from engineering to neuroscience uncovered the hidden networks that allow people with aphantasia to navigate a visual world without mental imagery—and what this reveals about the nature of consciousness itself.
Is Aphantasia Hereditary? - A Personal Exploration
I have aphantasia. Do my siblings have it? What about my parents? Is aphantasia hereditary?
My 37 year experience with Congenital Aphantasia
After months of practice, I'm beginning to visualize images from my mind and explore techniques to enhance this ability. Progress feels slow but promising!
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