Topic: Multisensory Aphantasia

Multisensory aphantasia is characterized by the absence of mental imagery across two or more sensory modalities (visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, or motor). Affecting approximately 25% of those with visual aphantasia, this broader form reflects a more comprehensive ‘sensory-free imagination.’

Like single-sensory forms, multisensory aphantasia can be congenital or acquired. Understanding this variation provides valuable insights into how the brain processes and integrates different types of sensory information and memory.

On this page, you’ll find aphantasia research, personal stories, and community discussions about multisensory aphantasia.

Researchers expand aphantasia definition beyond "inability to visualize." This broader framework impacts how we understand and identify with the condition.
Aphantasia, living without a mind's eye, doesn't hinder creativity. Despite my inability to visualize, I wrote and published a fantasy novel, proving creativity thrives in unique ways.
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.
People with aphantasia may struggle with memory recall. This may be because our memories are image-free. But, just because we can't see our memories, does that mean we don't have them? The ability to visualize is not a prerequisite for remembering rich experiences.
Whether you’re an aphant or a visualizer, marriage, or any loving partnership, is about commitment. Among other things, commitment means respecting each other’s differences and working through them lovingly.
We’re not — aphants don’t see the world the way most people do. Our brains work differently.
Many people dread the “what’s the most interesting thing about you” icebreaker question—but not me. I always have the perfect answer, "I have Aphantasia."
From guided imagery to imagined athletic practices, are aphantasics disadvantaged because they lack a mind’s eye?
A clinical therapist with total aphantasia, mental illness, autism, and other neurodiversities shares her perspectives and strategies.
I have aphantasia. Do my siblings have it? What about my parents? Is aphantasia hereditary?
I am reposting a response in another thread: I am 75 and just recently realized/learned that I have aphantasia. Now I am wondering about my years of taking ...
I am in my late 60's, and I just last week realized that Aphantasia / mind blindness was a "thing" (condition) that actually exists, and that ...
I have aphantasia. I am also a highly sensitive person with traits validated by Elaine Aron's research. One of these traits is sensory processing sensi...
Okay, it’s not exactly that I can visualize movement. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s without visuals yet I can still imagine movement...
To begin, let me clarify my understanding of empathy vs sympathy.  Empathy means experiencing someone else’s emotions while sympathy is an ability to u...
I read a post by Ian Miller that describes the way I think.  He said: “I build mental models of almost everything that I work on, they are often spatia...
Aphantasia isn’t limited to just visual imagination; it can impact all sensory imagery in the mind. For example, when most people go to a restaurant and see ...
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?
July 8, 2024
How do aphantasics relive their memories and do these differences show up in their brains? Researcher Merlin Monzel joins Aphantasia Network to share new findings on aphantasia and memory.
April 30, 2024
Aphantasia is the inability to visualize but can impact all mental imagery senses. Joel Pearson joins Founder of Aphantasia Network, Tom Ebeyer, for a live Ask Me Anything event to answer the community's questions.
February 25, 2021