Page 4 | Can you do the following inside your head?

jellybe · 16/02/2022 21:20

All of them. If I could turn off the inner monologue now and again that would be nice. I can't visualise words - as in how they are spelt of the shape of the word which I guess is part of my dyslexia. But pictorial, audio and smell memories are very vivid.

haggistramp · 16/02/2022 21:21

No, can't do any of them. It's called aphantasia. There's a fb page with more info on this.

Concestor · 16/02/2022 21:22

All of those. I'm autistic and have synaesthesia if those are relevant.

gigantaraffe · 16/02/2022 21:23

@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!

All of the above!

NursieBernard · 16/02/2022 21:24

No to all of them except g.

Doggydoodah123 · 16/02/2022 21:24

Yes to all of these.

AnnaSW1 · 16/02/2022 21:24

Yes to all too

OrangeBlossomsinthesun · 16/02/2022 21:24

All of them. I'm neurotypical. I can hear accents perfectly in my head too but can't actually do any accents in real life. Can hear music too, with instruments and everything.

whatshouldIdoo · 16/02/2022 21:26

Yes to all, mostly neurotypical (mild dyslexia)

FantasticFebruary · 16/02/2022 21:26

a) Summon a picture of a specfic person/place thing? Can you change the picture? sort of, but mostly from my recollection of a photo rather than the real thing
b) Can you 'hear' the voice of that person/sound in your head not as well as I'd like
c) Can you play a piece of music in your head? Some or most of it? no
d) Can you play a scene from a movie/TV episode etc? no
e) Can you run an animated or moving scene in your head? (like a horse trotting, or a waterfall flowing I suppose I think so, but again, more from a video of that thing
f) Can you recreate or imagine smells in your head? a bit
g) (finally!) do you have a voice running in your head lots? A sort of monologue or tangent? A sort of monologue, yes, but a very practical one, like need to do xyz, gid that's dusty, type thing. Not the fantasy/drama/parallel life stuff. When my Dad died, for weeks I had a video type thing running parallel to my usual thoughts. Mostly Dad talking, it was nice, but also odd/tiring. But I missed it when it stopped

I don't have any diagnosis, but I think if I went for testing I probably would have. Not sure how helpful my answer will be to you.

Boeufsurletoit · 16/02/2022 21:27

Yes to all. I can replay whole symphonies in my head during work training if I get bored, while also making notes on the training. I have adhd.

Sally2791 · 16/02/2022 21:28

Yes except f

tearinghairout · 16/02/2022 21:28

Yes to all.

I'm not sure if it's relevant to what you're asking but there are times when a song will be playing in my head all the time. I will wake up in the night and the same bloody song will be there, playing alongside my thoughts. The only way I can get rid of it is to sing Happy Birthday, but sometimes the relief is only temporary.

katseyes7 · 16/02/2022 21:29

Yes. All of these. When l'm going to sleep l get random 'videos' (not films, just moving pictures) in my head too. Sometimes people l know, sometimes not.

Dogshark · 16/02/2022 21:29

I don’t think it’s synesthesia. I believe that is when your senses merge and you ‘hear’ colours or ‘see’ smells, for example.

I think what OP has described is normal. Inability to do them is linked to ASD but in no way exclusively.

Inability to picture things, or a lack of minds eye is called aphantasia. It’s been quite widely discussed on here.

I can’t do any of them, at least no more than a very fleeting notion of the sound/image. Certainly not a video or tune. I am afaik NT but I have ND familial links.

The idea of ADHD being linked to possible an unusually increased ability is interesting. Possibly an inability to switch these things off which NT people can do?

Original poster

AmbushedByTheCake · 16/02/2022 21:31

@Boeufsurletoit

Yes to all. I can replay whole symphonies in my head during work training if I get bored, while also making notes on the training. I have adhd.

This resonated with me! Vivaldi was playing in my head as I read this. And I have had this before - can't even play an instrument but can 'hear' orchestra pieces, probably not whole symphonies though!

I am on the long slow path towards trying for a diagnosis. I may ask to message you at some point if that is ok. Thank you.

OP posts:

AColdDuncanGoodhew · 16/02/2022 21:31

Additionally I do sometimes wonder if I have ADHD as I've seen loads about how it can present women, but I'm 35 and on meds for anxiety (manifests as health anxiety and intrusive thoughts when I'm not medicated) so I wonder sometimes if it's the anxiety talking and skewing things I read to suit my narrative.

OhLordyWhatNow · 16/02/2022 21:31

Yes to all.

Not RTFT so not sure if anyone else has mentioned this; I also 'hear' food as musical notes. So citrus is a high note, chocolate is mid tone, and meat like beef in a stew is a low bass note.

Drawerofcrap · 16/02/2022 21:34

I can't switch off my thoughts easily so it takes me ages to fall asleep, but I wouldn't describe it as an inner monologue.
I also worry/think about about crashing when I'm driving or slipping on the stairs as I walk down them, etc. Always worst case scenarios.

MistyForTheWin · 16/02/2022 21:35

@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 😐

So if you look at a picture of say, an apple. Then close your eyes, can you not remember that picture and see it in your mind?

EveningOverRooftops · 16/02/2022 21:35

Yes to some of those. Yes can’t change the images I have seen with my own eyes and recall but I can create fully imagined images and worlds iyswim but my brain also runs away with itself.

Most of my friends have a straight forward linear conversation. Eg we saw a ball we played with the ball then we took the ball home.
Whereas me it would be - we saw a ball and it reminded me of that one time I saw a ball and my friend max really wanted it and we went on an adventure to get this ball but we ended up with 5 balls and that was too many balls to play with but we tried anyway. Then I’ll forget what the story is I was talking about and/or the conversation itself.

My very good friends understand it and go with the flow. Strangers don’t so I don’t have many friends.

It happens with my thoughts in a similar way too and I’ll forget what I was going in a room for or why I picked up the phone to make a call.

I struggle with remembering names but can picture a person clearly and describe them but their name… nope.

I regularly have brain farts and forget a word but again can describe the word and what I mean I just forget the word

I’ve been told I have an overactive imagination and I do daydream a lot because I get bored easily.

Fwiw I have hearing loss, I’m very introverted and a chronic under achiever with ridiculous number of hobbies

It’s been the bane of my entire life but I’m used to it now. I’m just not thriving in the ways I know I could. It’s frustrating.

GeneLovesJezebel · 16/02/2022 21:36

Yes to all, so what does that mean ?

AColdDuncanGoodhew · 16/02/2022 21:36

Most of my friends have a straight forward linear conversation. Eg we saw a ball we played with the ball then we took the ball home.
Whereas me it would be - we saw a ball and it reminded me of that one time I saw a ball and my friend max really wanted it and we went on an adventure to get this ball but we ended up with 5 balls and that was too many balls to play with but we tried anyway. Then I’ll forget what the story is I was talking about and/or the conversation itself

This is me too!!!

purplesequins · 16/02/2022 21:36

yes to all.
with the music I can annoyingly play the different layers/sub melodies separately in my head.
and I can keep earworms of those for ages.

Coronado2 · 16/02/2022 21:36

a) Summon a picture of a specfic person/place thing? Can you change the picture? Very briefly, like half a second. I can't really hold the pictures there.
b) Can you 'hear' the voice of that person/sound in your head. Not really. A few people I can hear saying specific things.
c) Can you play a piece of music in your head? Some or most of it? Yes, all of a piece of music that I know.
d) Can you play a scene from a movie/TV episode etc? Kind of at the back if my mind if that makes sense, so I can't see it clearly.
e) Can you run an animated or moving scene in your head? (like a horse trotting, or a waterfall flowing I suppose. Yes, clearer than replaying a film, but still hard to see it for long.
f) Can you recreate or imagine smells in your head? No.
g) (finally!) do you have a voice running in your head lots? A sort of monologue or tangent? Yes

We're going through the process of assessments for adhd for dd and I've read a lot about that and high functioning autism in girls, like a pp, there is a lot I relate to myself.