Not Getting the Picture

In the mind's eye: not for everyone (WSJ image)

Visualization is a principal tool for self-improvement. From sinking a putt to sitting in the C suite, from playing in Carnegie Hall to walking down the aisle, from looking good in a swim suit to hoisting a trophy, visualization has helped many people achieve their goals.

But not those who have aphantasia.

About 3% said they had little or no mental imagery, while a similar percentage were “hyperphantasic” with imagery that was almost painfully vivid, and there was a wide range in between.

There was no correlation between seeing mental images and creating them...

[New South Wales researchers] studied 48 random undergraduates and 18 people who were aphantasic. They showed the participants bright and dark triangles and measured how much their pupils involuntarily contracted when looking at the bright shape or expanded when the shape was dimmed.

Then they asked the participants to imagine the same sequence of triangles. The undergraduates’ pupils contracted or expanded just as if they were looking at the actual shapes; but aphantasics’ pupils didn’t change at all.

Aphantasia does seem less important than other problems. Nevertheless, does the inability to form mental images disadvantage individuals? And if so, are there remedies?

The "Century of the Brain" has wrinkles that no one anticipated.