Aphantasia

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Aphantasia

I have just read something that explains a long-time mystery for me. It appears that I have a relatively rare condition called aphantasia. See the article

Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains?

An excerpt from the above article:

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Think about your breakfast this morning. Can you imagine the pattern on your coffee mug? The sheen of the jam on your half-eaten toast?

Most of us can call up such pictures in our minds. We can visualize the past and summon images of the future. But for an estimated 4% of people, this mental imagery is weak or absent. When researchers ask them to imagine something familiar, they might have a concept of what it is, and words and associations might come to mind, but they describe their mind’s eye as dark or even blank.

Systems neuroscientist Mac Shine at the University of Sydney, Australia, first realized that his mental experience differed in this way in 2013. He and his colleagues were trying to understand how certain types of hallucination come about, and were discussing the vividness of mental imagery.

“When I close my eyes, there’s absolutely nothing there,” Shine recalls telling his colleagues. They immediately asked him what he was talking about. “Whoa. What’s going on?” Shine thought. Neither he nor his colleagues had realized how much variation there is in the experiences people have when they close their eyes.

This moment of revelation is common to many people who don’t form mental images. They report that they might never have thought about this aspect of their inner life if not for a chance conversation, a high-school psychology class or an article they stumbled across (see ‘How do you imagine?’).

Although scientists have known for more than a century that mental imagery varies between people, the topic received a surge of attention when, a decade ago, an influential paper coined the term aphantasia to describe the experience of people with no mental imagery.

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The 2015 paper and subsequent research has revealed how much aphantasia can vary. For instance, people with aphantasia often, but not always, lack the ability to imagine in sensory modalities besides vision — having no ‘mind’s ear’, for example. Some people with aphantasia report dreaming in pictures, but others don’t.

Researchers have also found that aphantasia seems to have a genetic component, with the likelihood of having aphantasia increasing tenfold if you have a sibling who has a weak or absent mind’s eye. And aphantasia might be more common in people in scientific and technical professions than in people with careers in the arts.

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I have no power at all to visualize anything and never have had any. If I close my eyes I see only black. If I try to visualize something, I can’t. I still see only black. When I have read instructions that one should visualize this or that I have always thought, “How does one do that?! What is the trick for doing that?” If I close my eyes and try to imagine something there is nothing there. I see nothing. I also lack any ability to “imagine in sensory modalities besides vision.” I have no ‘mind’s ear’, for example.

I can’t “visualize the past or summon images of the future.”

These are all powers that most people apparently have that I have no familiarity with.

I have always suspected that my memory was much poorer than that of most people — at least in some ways. I think my memory for the details of experiences of my past is much poorer than that of at least many people.

I do think that most people have both abilities and inabilities, strengths and weaknesses. We are all different.

God has been very good to me — I think exceptionally good to me. I certainly don’t complain. When I think of how so many people have so many problems I feel very grateful to God for all he has done for me. I believe God gave me my wife. I feel very grateful to him for that.

When one thinks of all of the children born in slums in the third world one ought to be thankful for everything he has been given. But for fate that child in the slum could be you.

Mind’s eye. (AI Overview) The "mind's eye" refers to the mental faculty of visualizing or imagining scenes, events, or objects as if you are seeing them, even with your physical eyes closed; it's the internal mental picture we form from memory or imagination, creating a vivid, albeit internal, visual experience. It's the place where we conjure up clear images for stories, recall past moments, or envision future possibilities.

Key aspects of the mind's eye:

● Imagination: Creating new visual scenarios, like planning a trip or a fictitious world.

● Memory: Recalling past experiences with visual detail, like seeing an old playground.

● Internal Visualization: A mental "screen" where these images appear, distinct from external sight.

● Not Always Literal: Some people (with aphantasia) can't form these vivid images, while others experience them intensely, like dreaming while awake.

Example: "In my mind's eye, I can still see my grandmother's kitchen as clearly as if I were there".

Well, I have no ‘Mind’s eye”. I never realized this power existed.

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Later note. 6/30/2026

I just asked ChatGpt the following question.

Q. Does aphantasia affect memory?

Answer. Yes. Aphantasia can affect certain kinds of memory, but it does not necessarily mean someone has a poor memory overall. The effects depend on the type of memory involved.

Here's how it tends to affect different kinds of memory:

Episodic (personal) memory

Many people with aphantasia report that memories of their own experiences are less vivid.

For example, if asked to remember a vacation, someone with typical mental imagery might mentally "see" the beach, hotel, or sunset. A person with aphantasia is more likely to remember:

● factual details (where they went, who was there)

● what happened in sequence

● conversations or events

rather than reliving the experience visually.

Research has found that people with aphantasia, on average, report less vivid autobiographical memories. Some also have a condition called Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM), though many people with aphantasia do not have SDAM.

Semantic (fact) memory

Memory for facts, concepts, vocabulary, and general knowledge is usually normal.

Someone with aphantasia can often remember:

● historical facts

● scientific concepts

● names

● phone numbers

● procedures

just as well as anyone else.

Working memory

Working memory is generally not impaired.

People with aphantasia can often:

● solve math problems mentally

● reason through complex ideas

● follow conversations

● plan tasks

Many develop alternative strategies that don't rely on visualization.

Spatial memory

The findings are mixed.

Some people with aphantasia have excellent navigation and remember layouts well using relationships and landmarks rather than mental pictures. Others find spatial tasks more challenging. Overall, there doesn't appear to be a consistent deficit.

Recognition memory

Recognition is usually normal.

For example, a person with aphantasia may not be able to picture a friend's face while they're absent, but they can recognize the friend immediately upon seeing them.

Why does this happen?

Mental imagery acts as an extra cue for remembering. When you can visualize an event, you're storing and retrieving information using both visual and verbal representations. Without visual imagery, people with aphantasia often rely more on:

● verbal descriptions

● logical relationships

● facts

● emotional significance

● repetition

These strategies can be very effective, and many people with aphantasia have excellent memories despite lacking visual imagery.

Current research

Studies suggest that people with aphantasia tend to:

● report less vivid autobiographical memories,

● recall fewer visual details of past events,

● perform normally on many objective memory tests,

● perform similarly to others on tests of intelligence and reasoning.

Researchers are still studying exactly how aphantasia affects memory because there is considerable variation from person to person.

In short, aphantasia mainly affects the vividness and visual quality of memories rather than memory capacity itself. Many people with aphantasia remember events accurately—they simply remember them in a more conceptual or factual way rather than by mentally "seeing" them.

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I then typed in Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM) for a Google search and obtained the following AI Overview:

Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM) is a lifelong condition where individuals cannot vividly re-experience or "relive" personal past events (episodic memory). While they retain facts and knowledge about their lives (semantic memory), their past lacks the subjective richness of first-person recollection.

How SDAM works

● The "PowerPoint" Effect: Memories are typically recalled as factual data or bullet points rather than a vivid movie.

● No Time Travel: People with SDAM cannot visually picture or re-feel past experiences.

● Intact Semantic Memory: Individuals with SDAM can learn new information, recall historical facts, and function completely normally in daily life.

● Non-Degenerative: It is a lifelong neurodevelopmental variation, not a form of amnesia, brain injury, or dementia.

The SDAM & Aphantasia Overlap

SDAM is heavily linked with aphantasia—the inability to form voluntary mental images. Many (though not all) people with SDAM cannot visualize past events, making it physically impossible to reconstruct visual memories.

Impact on Daily Life

Emotional Detachment: Since emotions are usually tied to vividly recalled experiences, individuals with SDAM may process relationships and nostalgia differently. They may not feel the warm, intimate "weight" of shared personal histories.

Skill Acquisition: Learning certain memory-heavy skills (like navigating via mental maps) can be difficult, as the standard "memory palace" visualization techniques rely entirely on episodic memory.

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I definitely do have SDAM and I would say I have it in the extreme. I think that the statement on Emotional Detachment definitely does apply to me.

When I was a boy I strongly suspected that the memories of my brother and father were much better than mine. I suspected that I had been shortchanged in regard to memory.

There are other ways in which I was different as a child from most people.

1. I was abnormally slow. I had a reputation for being abnormally slow.

2. I couldn’t think on my feet and was easily flustered and confused under pressure. I just couldn’t take pressure and didn’t want someone looking over my shoulder when I was trying to do something.

3. I didn’t want anyone to explain things to me. If I didn’t understand I would feel stupid and didn’t want to take the chance of being humiliated. I preferred to read an explanation in a book or figure things out for myself.

Over my life I have had several accidents (bicycle, tractor, auto, etc.) and I have later realized that a common aspect of all of the accidents is that my mind blanks out during the accident and afterwards I don’t have any memory of what happened during the accident (amnesia).

With all of these mental defects (or handicaps) it is not surprising that for many years I would be afflicted by an inferiority complex. In spite of all this, however, I was an A student in school and at the top of my classes.

When in high school and college I had part-time jobs and because of my slowness my bosses were unhappy with me. My first boss told me, “Your wheels do turn slowly, don’t they?” How is that for an ego killer? Perhaps that is why I have always been a very security minded person and been frugal and saved money.

5 Feb 2026