If I ask you what you had for lunch today or what the last series you watched was, you will most likely construct a mental image of both events. It is a natural process, and some would even call it inevitable... but there are people who cannot do it. The so-called "mind's eye" simply is not there. This particular condition is known as aphantasia, and its first description dates back to the late 19th century, but thanks to greater communication between specialists and patients, we have discovered that there are many people with "mental blindness" out there...
The striking presence of a beautiful actress, the best scene from a famous movie, the playground of your elementary school, that fabulous plate of spaghetti with bolognese sauce you devoured over the weekend, the fur of your pet, the faces of your family. With those words, the mind shoots off at full speed, searching for and forming images. The same happens when you hear an anecdote, read a book, or listen to a song! Scenes lived in the past or created purely by imagination. One way or another, they are there, in your mind.
Now imagine for a moment that you cannot do it. There is no image forming in your head. There are no faces, no colors, no textures. The famous "mind's eye"... is blind. It is not an invention: there are many people with that condition, known as "Aphantasia". The first formal analysis of the condition was published in the late 19th century by Sir Francis Galton, a sociologist, inventor, and statistician, but it remained in relative obscurity until a case emerged in 2005.
Not Alone
A 65-year-old man identified only as "MX" visited Professor and neurologist Adam Zeman of the University of Exeter Medical School. After undergoing minor surgery, the man realized that he could no longer form images in his mind. MX was in good health, and his memory was solid for someone his age, but the images had gone.
Over the years, it was confirmed beyond doubt that "MX" was not alone. One of the most relevant cases is that of Blake Ross, one of the original creators of Firefox, who in 2016 published an excellent article describing his feelings and difficulties living with aphantasia. He cannot visualize a face or remember a voice (which reveals that aphantasia can extend to other senses), he has difficulties drawing and following directions, but at the same time it does not prevent him from writing fiction or playing the piano.
Testing Yourself
So... do you think you have aphantasia? There is a way to find out: the so-called "Vividness Questionnaire" developed by British psychologist David Marks in 1973 is a good starting point to evaluate the quality of images produced by our mind's eye. The only restriction to access the questionnaire is that we must create an account on the official site aphantasia.com, which makes sense given that the idea is to obtain more information about this curious condition.
- Aphantasia on Wikipedia: Click here
- Vividness Questionnaire: Click here
