Blind Mind's Eye
By Adam Zeman
People with aphantasia cannot visualize imagery, a trait that highlights the complexities of imagination and mental representation.
This Article From Issue
March-April 2021
Volume 109, Number 2
Page 110
Which is darker: the green of grass or the green of a pine tree? Does a squirrel have a short or a long tail? Is a walnut larger than a hazelnut? Do Labradors have rounded ears? To answer questions such as these, you probably summoned up images of the mentioned items to inspect them in your “mind’s eye.” When you enjoy a novel, you likely come away with a visual impression of the characters and scenes described—which can lead to that familiar disappointment if the book is turned into a movie: “He looked nothing like I’d imagined him!”
QUICK TAKE
- A condition called aphantasia affects 1 to 3 percent of the population. Aphantasics lack the ability to visualize imagery—a term that includes all the senses, not just sight
- A survey about imagery vividness from 1880 was the first to document the condition, but it remained a little-studied phenomenon until the past few decades.
- Aphantasia does not imply a lack of imagination, which indicates that the brain has a wide range of methods for cognitive representation, some more abstract than experiential.
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