Aphantasia: Can You See An Apple When You Close Your Eyes?

Close your eyes and imagine an apple. What do you see inside of your mind there? From number 1 to 5, how clear is the apple?

Picture Source: https://lianamscott.com/2021/04/24/aphantasia-the-inability-to-visualize-2/

Some people might see a very vivid apple, with its gradation, looking just like the apples in markets. However, some people might also see a reddish color inside of their head. Interesting enough, some other might also see nothing!

Yes, to my surprise, the thing that usually happens in comic such as a character imagining a funny occurrence of another character or someone saying, “that memory keeps repeating again and again in my head.” could actually happen in your mind while you are imagining it. The ability to do so is called as “mental imagery”. I have only known about it when I had a conversation with my friends. It was even more fascinating that they could even imagine Harry Potter characters and the scene that was about to unfold when they were reading the books—just like in the movies (and all of those segments were played in their minds)!

Yes, I cannot truly explain it well since I have aphantasia. Still, that was what came to my mind when they explained about it. In short, I cannot call images such as an apple to my mind’s eye. When I imagine of an apple, what I can conceive is an abstract color moving around in a random manner.

Perhaps, the thing that pops in people’s mind when I say that I have aphantasia is, “Do you often struggle with your daily life?”. Well, the answer is no! But yes, I’m living without any mental imagery inside of my head. I can barely see anything there. No worries, there are a lot of people who has lifelong aphantasia too! Although, for some other it might occasionally be caused by brain injury and psychiatric disorder.

Picture Source: https://www.britannica.com/summary/brain

There are two parts of the brain which play major roles in visualizing mental imagery, which are the frontal lobe and the occipital lobe. Frontal lobe controls things related to decision making such as the way we think, plan and organizing things, the way we solve problems, short-term memory, and movement. On the other hand, the occipital lobe plays important role in processing images that the eye caught and linking it with information that the brain has. People with vivid imagery inside of their mind have stronger connection between these two lobes, while people with aphantasia does not.

After this, perhaps, a lot of people might think that aphantasia might be a disadvantage. Nevertheless, fact says that it is not truly a loss! Based on WIRED UK’s video with the title “Aphantasia: The People Who Can’t Visualise | ‘Out of Mind’ |”, it turns out that there are a lot of people with aphantasia has been living in satisfaction as well. People with aphantasia has strengths too, as they are mentioned to be more present and less prone to feelings like regret or longing.

Yet, it does not also mean that people with aphantasia is unable of feeling emotions — especially the deep, intense one. Truth is, they feel that too! It is just that they cannot truly visualize past images or memories that they have in their head, thus it is easier for them to be in the here and now. Interesting, isn’t it? Though, this experience of mental imagery might be experienced differently based on their perception.

Nevertheless, I believe that our differences here are the ones which make us unique. Both people with or without the ability to create mental imagery are full of perfection and imperfections, and it is always a nice thing to know yourself better!