Can you do the following inside your head?

[AmbushedByTheCake]

... or brain.

Various conversations recently with people, and following my ongoing ADHD research, I'm interested how people can recreate sensory detail/movements/memories etc. Can you do the following:

a) Summon a picture of a specfic person/place thing? Can you change the picture?
b) Can you 'hear' the voice of that person/sound in your head
c) Can you play a piece of music in your head? Some or most of it?
d) Can you play a scene from a movie/TV episode etc?
e) Can you run an animated or moving scene in your head? (like a horse trotting, or a waterfall flowing I suppose
f) Can you recreate or imagine smells in your head?
g) (finally!) do you have a voice running in your head lots? A sort of monologue or tangent?

Disclaimer: curiousity only! Not a scientist - questions clumsily worded. Trying to understand my own brain - I think I can do most of the above or some version. I can hear sounds and picture things vividly, and I get some sense of a smell (for example bacon frying) I can 'rememeber' the taste/smell of it.

Interested to see what this is like for others!

Yes,all of them. It's ''normal'' or so I thought.

No to all of them apart from g

Yes to all.

@MaizeAmaze

I can do c) if it's a piece ive played on an instrument. No to the rest. How do any of you ever get any quiet if all that's going on in your head?

I can do all of these. I rarely get any peace in my head!

I can do all of that. I'm neurotypical but my son is neurodiverse.

Yes to all apart from g unless I'm not understanding what you mean by that

@MaizeAmaze

I can do c) if it's a piece ive played on an instrument. No to the rest. How do any of you ever get any quiet if all that's going on in your head?

I never get any peace and quiet

Yes to everything, neurotypical.

@WallaceinAnderland

None of those. I only have my own thoughts.

No way! Don't you ever remember a scene from a movie and replay it in your head?!

I’ve never understood what people mean when they say eg ‘picture a red square in your mind’ or ‘picture yourself on the beach, the sound of the waves….’

Like do people actually see it?! Or hear it…
I don’t get it, I cant imagine things like this 😐

Yes. I can do all of those.

b and d are hard for me;
c I can get the tune, but not the orchestration usually
I can't imagine f: is that a thing, I mean I know smells I like but I can't smell them in my head...
g is a constant, I never shut up: monologue and tangents!

(NT officially, although with 2 ND kids - 1 with probable synesthethia, and I suspect I am possibly ND)

B and g only here.
I have a sound and colour mind. Can't picture anything in my "minds eye" ask me to describe dh and I can give you a pretty good description, but I can't picture him.
When I think of him I see colours, hear him and feel a sense of calm, but no imagery.

All of them. My brain is busy. I wish it would shut up occasionally! Especially the constant music / narrative going round!

Yes to all of them except maybe the smell one. my sense of smell was completely damaged by Covid and many things now smell "wrong" and I can't remember the "right" smell. (I get phantom smells too sometimes, or a certain smell will attach itself to other things randomly)

Ooh I just assumed everyone did these things?!? Yes to all, some more than others, for example the music I “see” the notes on a page or can “feel” the fingering on an instrument.

Yes to all, vividly, but I am not diagnosed with anything (or suspected of anything!).

Yes, all of them.

A) only very familiar places or people
B) yes
C) only if it has words to it
D) no
E) no
F) yes
G) of course, can’t imagine thinking without using words

No none of them but I can't even see anything in my minds eye not even an apple. I'm autistic so don't know if that makes a difference

I can do all of the above whilst watching tv and daydreaming.

Im a maladaptive daydreamer which probably helps. Its like a zoom meeting of different scenarios in my head.

Yes to all of them

Yes, I can do all the above. I have very good spacial awareness and memory. I could visit someones home and a week later- imagine I was sitting in each corner of their ceiling looking down and recall what I see from the various angles. I can often find my way back to a location I've only driven to once using buildings/trees as cues on where to go.

A year ago we bought a very large derelict property. We walked through with the real estate agent and spent maybe 10-15mins inside- dodging floor to ceiling furniture! We'd made an offer and back home, I drew up a rough floor plan of what I could remember. I didn't measure any sizes, but the overall plan and room locations were very close to what it is- albeit some rooms ended up being larger once the rooms were clear.

My DH is the absolute opposite. We bought this home and have spent hours over the past year renovating. He still struggles to imagine rooms when we aren't inside the house or understand when I explain about a certain wall. I can clearly see the plan and X wall backs into the bathroom. He cannot 'see' this automatically though.

He also still struggles driving to shops 15mins away which have several routes that can be taken to get there. He would find his way there eventually, but might take the longest route, or have to stop to check his phone. Neither of us have any learning issues that I'm aware of , both have degrees and successful careers but in very different areas. He did skip a year in some subjects, but I certainly don't think its to the level of a savant.

I can do all of them except I'm not one hundred percent sure on (f). I can definitely imagine the taste of something but I don't think I'm imagining smell to the same extent.
Very interesting thread.

None except for g. Have never been able to picture things. Neurotypical, or so I thought!