Visualization is the ability to form a mental image. It involves forming a picture of an object or scene without direct visual input, using imagination and memory. Our capacity for visualization varies widely. While some can create incredibly vivid and lifelike mental images, for the majority, visualization tends to function as a weaker form of visual perception, often resulting in less detailed and more fleeting images.
Visualization is the ability to form a mental image. It involves forming a picture of an object or scene without direct visual input, using imagination and memory. Our capacity for visualization varies widely. While some can create incredibly vivid and lifelike mental images, for the majority, visualization tends to function as a weaker form of visual perception, often resulting in less detailed and more fleeting images.
Researchers found that imagery modulates pupillary responses, but these changes do not correlate with individual vividness ratings. This suggests pupillary response is not a reliable objective index for measuring individual differences in imagery.
Gardner, D., Saurels, B. W., & Arnold, D. H. (2026). Imagery modulates the pupillary response, but this does not reliably index differences in imagery vividness.. Cortex. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.018
This piece explores recently published philosophical research on Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) and its relevance to understanding aphantasia. While ancient philosophers couldn't have known about cognitive diversity as we understand it today, their assumptions about universal mental processes help us appreciate how differently minds can work.
Drawing on Under the Tuscan Sun, Terry Grace explores what it means to build a meaningful life without the ability to picture it first. This essay offers an alternative framework for manifestation: one rooted in feeling, resonance, and faith rather than visualization.
Did the ancient Greeks know some people can’t create mental images? The forgotten history of ekphrasis challenges our assumptions about imagination and offers surprising insights into our image-saturated world.
This apple illusion allows people who can't visualize to temporarily 'see' an image that isn't there—using visual perception to demonstrate what others experience through their imagination.
Researchers identified 16 consistent characteristics of visual mental imagery across diverse historical and cultural datasets. This taxonomic template provides a more precise framework for defining imagery and refining aphantasia diagnoses.
Marks, D. F. (2023). Phenomenological studies of visual mental imagery: a review and synthesis of historical datasets. Vision, 7(4), 67. doi:10.3390/vision7040067
Everything you wish someone had told you about having aphantasia. Understand why you think differently, find your strengths, and learn the strategies built for your brain — not someone else's.
Talk to counselors, coaches, and educators who already understand aphantasia — so you don't have to start by explaining what it is.
Researchers found that imagery modulates pupillary responses, but these changes do not correlate with individual vividness ratings. This suggests pupillary response is not a reliable objective index for measuring individual differences in imagery.
Gardner, D., Saurels, B. W., & Arnold, D. H. (2026). Imagery modulates the pupillary response, but this does not reliably index differences in imagery vividness.. Cortex. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.018
This piece explores recently published philosophical research on Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) and its relevance to understanding aphantasia. While ancient philosophers couldn't have known about cognitive diversity as we understand it today, their assumptions about universal mental processes help us appreciate how differently minds can work.
Drawing on Under the Tuscan Sun, Terry Grace explores what it means to build a meaningful life without the ability to picture it first. This essay offers an alternative framework for manifestation: one rooted in feeling, resonance, and faith rather than visualization.
Did the ancient Greeks know some people can’t create mental images? The forgotten history of ekphrasis challenges our assumptions about imagination and offers surprising insights into our image-saturated world.
This apple illusion allows people who can't visualize to temporarily 'see' an image that isn't there—using visual perception to demonstrate what others experience through their imagination.
Researchers identified 16 consistent characteristics of visual mental imagery across diverse historical and cultural datasets. This taxonomic template provides a more precise framework for defining imagery and refining aphantasia diagnoses.
Marks, D. F. (2023). Phenomenological studies of visual mental imagery: a review and synthesis of historical datasets. Vision, 7(4), 67. doi:10.3390/vision7040067
Everything you wish someone had told you about having aphantasia. Understand why you think differently, find your strengths, and learn the strategies built for your brain — not someone else's.
Talk to counselors, coaches, and educators who already understand aphantasia — so you don't have to start by explaining what it is.
