People with aphantasia still activate their visual cortex when trying to conjure an image in their mind’s eye, but the images produced are too weak or distorted to become conscious to the individual

[u/unsw]

https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/01/mind-blindness-decoded-people-who-cant-see-with-their-minds-eye-still-activate-their-visual-cortex-study-finds?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social

[u/Ehrre]

Aphantasia confuses me because.. how do you quantify a mental image? How do you measure how vivid it is for someone?

I can think of things but I don't see an image of it in my mind.. I know what an apple looks like I can describe it but when I imagine it I don't "see" anything at all.

It makes me wonder if anyone actually does.

[u/broden89 → u/Ehrre]

Yeah it's always confused me because when I read a book, it's like I see a movie in my mind. It sucks when movie adaptations get released and it doesn't look right.

Do people with aphantasia not get the "brain movie"? Can you enjoy reading if you're not picturing anything??

[u/things_U_choose_2_b → u/broden89]

I am about 2 out of 10 on visualisation ability, I've always loved reading. I can't see the book in my head but it's like... I can't see a green triangle if I try, but I still have an innate understanding of what a green triangle is?

What really amazes me is, some people have no inner eye OR inner ear. Unsure if it's related to the aphantasia but I almost have an eidetic memory for sounds, my internal narrator is quite active and I can make it take on whatever voice I've recently heard (blessing if I've recently heard Morgan Freeman, curse with certain... other celebrities).

I work with audio / music which has probably taken an active inner ear and refined it further. Again a blessing and curse, because while I have 'brain radio', what might be a 10-minute earworm for you will be a 2-day torture cycle earworm for me.

[u/15k_bastard_ducks → u/things_U_choose_2_b]

You sound similar to me. I'm an artist and do a lot of digital artwork, so I think I'd describe my visualization as being on a layer that's set to 2-5% opacity. However, while I'm not really seeing much of anything at all, I innately know what it is I'm supposed to be seeing, down to the details.

My dream visualizations are absolutely crazy, though. They look just like real life, and I can lucid dream too.

I also have an inner monologue that never ever shuts up that can also mimic voices exactly. I can hear Jeremy Iron's Scar from The Lion King plain as day in my head, any time I want! I can even switch voices around. I can overlap voices and replay voice-accurate scenes. The curse with that (other than the earworm issue you brought up and that I also have) is the aforementioned loquacious inner voice. It is always on. I don't just have a voice that mimics other voices - often several at once - I also have a "me" voice, which is the default voice for my thoughts. And there can be more than one of them going ... at the same time ... talking to each other and/or to me.

[u/lifesizepenguin → u/things_U_choose_2_b]

This first part is how I describe it to my friends who have asked me about it.

Ask me to think of an apple, I'm thinking of it, I can describe it, I just don't see it. It's more of an abstract "idea".

[u/things_U_choose_2_b → u/lifesizepenguin]

I feel like it's a useful analogy to try and understand how people think without an internal ear / eye. Which is kinda like trying to think of a new colour.