Motor

Motor aphantasia is the inability to mentally rehearse physical movement. It shows up most in activities that lean on imagined practice, like sports or dance.

Motor

Motor aphantasia is the inability to mentally rehearse physical movement. It shows up most in activities that lean on imagined practice, like sports or dance.

Reference

Aphantasia and Motor Imagery: A Step Further in Understanding Imagery and its Role in Motor Cognition

Aphantasics showed reduced right-brain activation and increased left middle frontal gyrus activity during motor imagery. This suggests they use compensatory semantic strategies, indicating mental imagery is not essential for motor cognition.

Peruski, A. (2026). Aphantasia and motor imagery: a step further in understanding imagery and its role in motor cognition. Journal of Neurophysiology. doi:10.1152/jn.00608.2025

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Reference

Varieties of aphantasia

Aphantasia is a heterogeneous condition with distinct subtypes, including variations in voluntary control and sensory modalities. Recognizing these differences is essential for developing accurate experimental methodologies and explanations.

Nanay, B. (2025). Varieties of aphantasia. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 29(11), 965–966. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.008

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Reference

Motor imagery in individuals with congenital aphantasia

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.

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

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Reference

A decade of aphantasia research – and still going!

A decade of research shows aphantasia is a heterogeneous condition with varying subtypes and preserved cognitive performance. This suggests that conscious visual imagery is not required for complex tasks like memory and spatial reasoning.

Zeman, A. (2025). A decade of aphantasia research – and still going!. Neuropsychologia, 219, 109278. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109278

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aphantasia definition, aphantasia definitions

Article

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.

recentlyby Tom Ebeyer and

Video

Invisible Rehearsal: How Aphantasia Affects Motor Simulation and Rehabilitation

Understanding how our brain performs motor simulations is crucial for enhancing motor skills, whether it be in sports performance, motor rehabilitation, or simple everyday movements. But what happens when a person cannot simulate these movements?

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Article

Can Aphantasics Use Imagery to Heal or Improve Performance?

From guided imagery to imagined athletic practices, are aphantasics disadvantaged because they lack a mind’s eye?

recentlyby Jim Collison

Reference

Proposal for a consistent definition of aphantasia and hyperphantasia: A response to Lambert and Sibley (2022) and Simner and Dance (2022)

Researchers propose defining aphantasia as the absence or reduction of voluntary sensory imagery across any modality. This unified terminology avoids a proliferation of new terms while acknowledging that imagery deficits can be specific or multisensory.

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

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Article

3 Things I Learned From Having Multisensory Aphantasia That Changed My Understanding Of The World

My journey understanding the cognitive profiles of aphantasia and hyperphantasia started when I learned at age 30 that most of you have a superpower I don’t.

recentlyby Steven Levithan

Article

Switching The Focus From Visual Imagery

A case for studying mental imagery as a whole

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Discussion

Do you have a physical imagination?

recentlyAimee

Can you imagine sensations like textures or body movements? Share your experiences with physical imagination!

Article

Think of a Horse: Describing Aphantasia

How do you describe aphantasia? Founder of Aphantasia Network often gets asked this question. His answer? Think of a horse.

recentlyby Tom Ebeyer

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