Psychedelics
Some report vivid imagery under psychedelics despite having little or none in ordinary waking life. What that says about aphantasia is still being worked out.
Some report vivid imagery under psychedelics despite having little or none in ordinary waking life. What that says about aphantasia is still being worked out.
Some report vivid imagery under psychedelics despite having little or none in ordinary waking life. What that says about aphantasia is still being worked out.
A woman with congenital aphantasia experienced the emergence of mental imagery and dreams after consuming psilocybin truffles. This suggests that psychedelic substances may have the potential to temporarily or permanently alter imagery vividness.
Rebecchi, K. (2025). “diversity makes the richness of humanity”: the emergence and persistence of mental imagery after self-reported psilocybin truffles intake in an autistic woman with “blind imagination” (aphantasia): a 33-month retrospective case report. Journal of Psychedelic Studies. doi:10.1556/2054.2025.00320
Congenital aphantasia remained resistant to change even after high-dose DMT use, unlike a case of acquired aphantasia that improved with ayahuasca. This suggests a fundamental biological distinction between congenital and acquired forms.
Luke, D. (2018). Reply to “ayahuasca turned on my mind’s eye”: a case of acquired versus congenital aphantasia, as evidenced with dmt use?. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2(2), 97–98. doi:10.1556/2054.2018.014
A single dose of ayahuasca led to sustained improvements in voluntary visual imagery for a man with lifelong aphantasia. This suggests that 5-HT2A agonists may help resolve functional or trauma-related deficits in mental imagination.
dos Santos, R. G., Enyart, S., Bouso, J. C., Pares, Ò., & Hallak, J. E. C. (2018). “ayahuasca turned on my mind’s eye”: enhanced visual imagery after ayahuasca intake in a man with “blind imagination” (aphantasia). Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2(2), 74–77. doi:10.1556/2054.2018.008
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