People who cannot see images in their minds eye

[ofwarren]

Whenever this is discussed on here, there are those who say people with aphantasia are probably seeing images but don't realise, but now a study has been done that shows that they truly do not see images in their minds eye.

newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/windows-soul-pupils-reveal-aphantasia-absence-visual-imagination

"The study, led by researchers from UNSW Sydney and published in eLife, found that the pupils of people with aphantasia did not respond when asked to imagine dark and light objects, while those without aphantasia did."

This bit was very interesting too:

"We know that thinking in pictures or not affects the number of details in lifelong memories, how emotional we get when reading, and how we hold things in short term memory. This new method will allow us to understand the brain mechanisms of extreme imagery and the global implications for how we think, make decisions and feel.”

Those of you with aphantasia, do you ever cry reading a book?

Fascinating stuff

Do any of you with aphantasia prefer the book to the film?

I don't have it and definitely always prefer the book as its much more vivid.

I have it. Books rarely make me cry. I enjoy reading and watching films equally.

I don't hold memories, good or bad, for long - out of sight out of mind.

I'm guessing that it's less common for someone with aphantasia to get PTSD then maybe?

It's so interesting how differently the brain can work!

I have it. I truly though that no-one could really think visually until very recently.

I’ve come to realise that I think in words. It’s like there’s a constant stream of (written) words running through my head when I think. I value words - poetry, prose - above all other art forms. Fine art leaves me cold.

Nevertheless, I enjoy movies, and find books and movies equally moving.

We’ve discussed this recently. It seems the high grade students think in words.

I think in pictures. I can visualize where I’ve seen things like looking at a photograph - I rarely cry at movies or books!

I have no minds eye . For example if you ask me to close my eyes and imagine a family member , I can't .
Likewise if you ask me to describe an orange . I will tell you it's round , and orange in colour but to see it as I've described , nope.

I'm fairly sure I have visual imagination - I think I do - I mean right now I can see in my mind's eye a yellow cat on a pink cushion, it's got a white bow tie around its neck - I made it so on purpose - but this thinking in words thing go me wondering because ever since I was little, if I need to spell a word I 'see' it in my head, black Roman type on a white background, likewise numbers.

Dp and I had this conversation the other week. We were having our garden redone and dp had a fit at something that looked a bit off but he couldn't see the finished product in his minds eye whereas I can. I could see it finished and he couldn't see past what was in front of his eyes.

I love reading and can create the picture in my mind and have cried at loads of different books and always prefer books over their film counterparts.

Dp cannot enjoy a book as he cannot create the scene, it's just words on a page to him, and much prefers a film.

Isn't it strange.

I have it. Cry easily at books, I cry less at films but they still do make me cry. I have a brilliant long term memory, but a terrible short term memory. I dream a lot but it's feelings rather than visual. I also have a very active imagination, but again, it's not visual!

I have it, I absolutely cannot see things clearly in my head, I can see a kind of blurry impression but if I try to focus too closely it breaks up, if I try really hard I can see close up bits of landscape or objects but I absolutely cannot see faces or animals. Just impressions.
I usually prefer the book to the film. I know if something isn’t how I imagined it so I must be imagining something.
I didn’t cry at books (or films) as a child, I did cry buckets at books during my 20s and 30s, but a book hasn’t made me cry for a while in my 40s.

Some poems make my cry - for example Kipling's 'Merrow Down', and Christina Rossetti's 'Remember'.

I didn't know there was a word for this!! I have this!!

I thought this was normal? I have constant imagery and words- monologue etc
i have vivid dreams every night and recollect them easily, I love writing and my imagination is obviously extreme. I’m a lucid dreamer too.
honestly I thought everyone thought in images and words. Lol no wonder my mind is so active

Like @CinnabarRed I had no idea that other people had a “mind’s eye”, I just thought it was a figure of speech. I had no idea how witnesses could describe someone to a sketch artist or do an identikit picture.

I definitely cry when reading books or watching sad films, though. Tears spring to my eyes too readily if someone is telling me something sad about themselves - I now use a trick a GP friend of mine taught me to stop this, as it wasn’t helpful if I was at work.

The trick is to press your tongue firmly to the root of your mouth just behind your teeth. It works for me.

I have aphantasia and I cry at everything, both books and movies (and adverts and people walking old dogs. It's chronic). I have empathy with the characters, I just can't "see" the story. I'm another who thinks in a constant stream of words. It makes getting to sleep difficult when your brain just won't shut up.

I have this and so does my mum. I cry at books and films because i can empathise with the feelings of the characters even if I can't view them in my mind's eye. I almost always prefer the book because even though I don't have clear pictures in my head only flashes, I still have expectations about the characters from reading it - and the film often doesn't meet those (they often cut bits and mess with the original story which doesn't help either).

IMO I don't think someone would get over trauma or upset more quickly with aphantasia as they would still hold onto the fears and feelings and they could still see/feel flashes of the event. They may also have nightmares (I have pictures in dreams, I would say my dreams are 'normal' as in they are like a film).

Very interesting article, @ofwarren . Thank you for the link.

and do you have internal dialogue?

It's when you "hear" yourself speaking to yourself and you have a conversation about something like what to do next or how you feel. It's the voice that can say "okay calm down, we can do this" when you're going through something difficult. Or one who you discuss your to do list with such as 'let's do the garden then make a cup of tea '
Or when I describe this does it sound like someone with schizophrenia?

I do this. Like a permanent conversation in my head. And it's always "we", not "I".

I have no mind's Eye but am an avid reader. I am not overly sentimental but that doesn't mean i dont have emotions, i sobbed through A Man called Ove for example. I think sometimes people mix up imagination with minds eye, I can't see images but I can imagine scenarios, plotlines, ideas, etc. If i try to picture my dog that i see every day, i might get a flash of an image, then its gone, but the image is actually not the dog but a photo of him that i have looked at many times, so i am not summoning up an image, its actually a memory if that makes sense. My long term memory is very good, my short term ok. My main problem is when driving, I can't follow directions because i cant grasp where one place is in relation to another until i actually see it, its difficult to explain. Also if someone is talking about putting furniture in a room and they say the sofa will be there the TV there what do you think? I don't know, because until i actually see it irl I haven't a clue. Oddly though, my spacial awareness is good, and even stranger I can see images in dreams, because I remember them when I wake up. I dreamt the other night that I was wearing a yellow dress, I looked down in the dream and saw it, I can't picture it now but I remember clearly seeing it in the dream.
Sorry that was longer than intended, just trying to explain.

That's me exactly. I have the constant internal dialogue as well. The funny thing is I didn't know other people saw pictures in their head, I didn't discover aphantasia until I read about it on here a couple of years ago.

This thread is fascinating! I didn't know people thought in streams of words! Amazing!

Counting sheep for me ( if trying to get to sleep ). Is " Count one sheep , count two sheep etc No sheep , but I tell myself to count them no see them.

not