Multisensory aphantasia means missing imagery in two or more senses at once, not just vision. It affects roughly a quarter of people with visual aphantasia.
Chen and colleagues · Empirical Studies of the Arts
Higher sensory imagery ability is associated with increased emotional valence, arousal, and aesthetic appeal when viewing paintings. This suggests that mental imagery capacity significantly enhances the richness of aesthetic experiences.
Zeman · Neuropsychologia
Ten years after aphantasia was named, Adam Zeman argues it likely has several subtypes and that most abilities are spared, with memory for one's own past differing most. He urges an open mind in this young field.
Bruder and Zehra · Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science
Among 636 adults in Qatar, 5.0% scored in the aphantasia range and 12.1% in the hyperphantasia range, similar across cultures. Middle East and North Africa participants reported weaker imagery than Southeast Asian and Western ones.
Zeman and colleagues · Cortex
Researchers define aphantasia as the absence of voluntary sensory imagery, often extending beyond vision to other modalities. This formal definition establishes a standardized framework for classifying multisensory and global imagery deficits.
Monzel and colleagues · Cortex
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.