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Original poster

Can you do the following inside your head?

401 replies

AmbushedByTheCake · 16/02/2022 20:44

... 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!

OP posts:
steppemum · 16/02/2022 21:08

yes, I can do all those things.

I am neurotypical.

I would say though that I can choose to do them, and can have silence if I want to.
and the voice thing, is my thoughts, and isn't like someone else talking, and again, it is when I choose

DoodleBelle · 16/02/2022 21:09

Yes to all except G - I do obviously have thoughts running through my mind but it’s not an ever running commentary

ApolloandDaphne · 16/02/2022 21:09

I can do all of those things and as far as I am aware I am NT. I have a very active imagination.

Dancingalong · 16/02/2022 21:10

Only G for me, my inner monologue is constant and makes up lots of stories etc but I really can’t visualise.

Drawerofcrap · 16/02/2022 21:10

No to all of them. I have Aspergers so don't know if that's relevant. My dreams are very real and vivid though.

GorgonzolaSouffle · 16/02/2022 21:11

SYNESTHAESIA…..

LOOK IT UP

Luredbyapomegranate · 16/02/2022 21:11

All of it.

The most interesting thread I ever read on MN was posters saying they didn’t think in words. I had no idea anyone didn’t. It was fascinating and discombobulating, a window into how subjective our view of the world is.

Tiredmum100 · 16/02/2022 21:11

Yes I can do all of those things.

qualitygirl · 16/02/2022 21:11

I can do all but f...I can describe a smell but I can't recreate it.

gingerninja99 · 16/02/2022 21:12

All of those, I spoke to my husband recently about this and he doesn't have an inner monologue. Just pictures, which probably explains how he can fall asleep in seconds and it takes me nearly an hour even if I am really tired Smile

Original poster
AmbushedByTheCake · 16/02/2022 21:14

Thank you for such an interesting and varied range of responses! I can't really make any inferences at the moment, especially as I have no specialism or qualification in the area. I wasn't sure whether to mention my ADHD research but felt it was relevant as it was sort of where some of this started.
I just listed things that are frequently 'there' in my brain, and realised how much of the time you just assume 'well, that's how everyone's brain works,' or some version of images/sounds/words etc.

This is the sort of thing I have read: www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-34046774

Also, I should have stated I put G last, and should have said that I have heard people having this one a lot around adhd or neurodiversity - a near constant monologue or tangent, and wondered what this was like with other people.

OP posts:
enjoyingscience · 16/02/2022 21:14

Yes to all except smells. My inner monologue is flipping constant.

Pythonesque · 16/02/2022 21:14

Most of them I can do to some extent. The visual ones require conscious effort, moving and changing things is pretty limited. Sounds - like others who have commented, my head is never silent. Often a running commentary which can be slightly separate to my main thoughts (that was more common in childhood than nowadays I think); music pretty much continuous.

I agree, music I know tends to associate with the physical aspects of performing it as well.

My (late teen) ASD daughter has very little visual imagery as far as we have worked out talking it through together.

Wrenna · 16/02/2022 21:15

Yes to all

ukborn · 16/02/2022 21:15

F not so much as I have a poor sense of smell but yea to all the others.

Classica · 16/02/2022 21:16

All except for G.

I do not have a running monologue. Can't imagine how irritating that would be.

devildeepbluesea · 16/02/2022 21:17

Yes to all.

nudelip · 16/02/2022 21:17

I don't know about the visualising. I'm not sure if I can see things or just know what they look like if that makes sense.

I can conjure smells which are attached to certain memories, I can hear music and have frequent ear worms that 'go' with people or activities and I have an almost constant monologue which is annoying.

gingerninja99 · 16/02/2022 21:17

@IWillBeSeeingYou

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 😐

For me yes, if someone said close your eyes and picture yourself on a beach I can see it, hear it, smell the sea air and feel the water on my toes or hands if I picture it
AColdDuncanGoodhew · 16/02/2022 21:18

Yes to all

I feel like my head doesn't stop, ever. It's just a constant stream of thought. Sometimes I could scream, especially when I'm trying to get to sleep or relax to watch a movie and my brain is flipping through memories from blooming 10 years ago or running through tomorrow's plans in excruciating detail.

SweetPotatoDumpling · 16/02/2022 21:18

Yes to all...and sometimes several all at once!! I do find it hard to completely empty my mind and would make a terrible meditation student!

steppemum · 16/02/2022 21:18

@GorgonzolaSouffle

SYNESTHAESIA…..

LOOK IT UP

well, my understanding is synesthaesia was that you have overlap between your senses.

so for example you see days of the week as colours
or peoples names have musical sounds to go with them.
or listening to a piece of music you see a rainbow of colours and pictures.
or smells have a colour

What the OP is talking about is visualising something. I can picture myself sitting on a beach. Literally can see the sand/water/heat of the sun etc in my minds eye. But I am not experiencing a crossover between the senses, what I am visualising is imagined reality.
Many people can't do that, they can't visualise in picture form.

That is not the same as synesthaesia

OnwardsAndSideways1 · 16/02/2022 21:18

I have a monologue in my head, but I think my dd who may have ADHD (yet to be diagnosed) has a more intensive version of that, which is harder to switch off, and also constantly plays 'what if's and is more imaginative but also more destructive.

I don't know if the difference is monologue vs no monologue but the intensity of the chattering is different and for her, harder to control or switch off, which is why it can translate into being distracted and also fuel mental health issues at times. Just a thought.

BottlingBurpsForGrandma · 16/02/2022 21:19

I can do all except summon a smell, although I can summon certain smells such as rotten eggs or particular aftershave it's not definite.

I also don't have an inner monologue however as I type this I am kind of reading it aloud to myself in my own voice if that makes sense?

CorneliusVetch · 16/02/2022 21:19

@DoodleBelle

Yes to all except G - I do obviously have thoughts running through my mind but it’s not an ever running commentary
Same. I don’t think I have an inner voice, and I don’t think that I think in words… but I really wouldn’t be able to tell you how I do process my thoughts!