Prosopagnosia, also called face blindness, is a condition where you have difficulty recognising people's faces. There is no treatment, but there are things you can do to help you recognise people.
3% of people can't create a mental picture in their heads—this test will tell you if you're one of them. Most people can visualize a loved one's face or the best meal they've ever had, but there are others whose minds go blank when they attempt to do the same. This phenomenon is known as aphantasia.
But Prof Zeman is certain that aphantasia is real. People often report being able to dream in pictures, and there have been reported cases of people losing the ability to think in images after a brain injury. He is adamant that aphantasia is "not a disorder" and says it may affect up to one in 50 people.
Four percent of people are estimated to experience aphantasia, but we can go our whole lives without knowing we have it.
Aphantasics show elevated autism-linked traits. Aphantasia and autism linked by impaired imagination and social skills. Aphantasia (low imagery) can arise in synaesthesia (usually linked to high imagery). Aphantasic synaesthetes have more 'associator' than 'projector' traits.
But aphantasia not only impacts people's learning experiences; it also extends into their personal lives. Not being able to visualize means never picturing the faces of family or close friends and remembering images as abstract information.
For instance, someone with non-congenital aphantasia of a psychogenic origin may have acquired the condition as a result of trauma, with their lack of imagery being a coping mechanism, one that also causes them to forget that they ever had imagery in the first place.
People with aphantasia often get asked the question: Do you dream? According to new research, the majority of aphantasics dream visually but are unable to do so while awake. Others will dream with the knowledge they're experiencing something, but without mental pictures or sound.
A simple test for aphantasia.
That said, there is a simple and helpful test that can give you a clue into whether you may have it: Close your eyes and try to imagine an apple, seeing it mentally in your mind's eye. If you can see anything (anything at all—even a blurry outline), you do not have aphantasia.
Aphantasia is rare, but scientists have identified two types of the disorder, including acquired aphantasia, which can occur after a brain injury or occasionally after periods of depression or psychosis, and congenital aphantasia, which is present at birth.
Background. School-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in interpersonal relationships, in addition to impaired facial expression perception and recognition. For successful social interactions, the ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar faces is critical.
Recognition is also not affected: People with aphantasia knew which pictures of rooms they had already seen when shown them a second time, and also recognize family and friends—though they cannot visualize their faces without seeing them. Aphantasia has only come to light recently as a psychological phenomenon.
Aphantasia (/ˌeɪfænˈteɪʒə/ ay-fan-TAY-zhə, /ˌæfænˈteɪʒə/ a-fan-TAY-zhə) is the inability to create mental imagery. The phenomenon was first described by Francis Galton in 1880, but has since remained relatively unstudied.
Some people can be born with aphantasia. It's possible there may be a genetic link, but much more research is needed to confirm this. Some people can also develop aphantasia later in life. This might occur after suffering an injury to their brain, like a stroke or trauma.
Life with aphantasia
Some might be able to hear a tune in their mind, but not be able to imagine visual images associated with it. Similarly, research has shown that despite the inability to generate on-demand visual imagery, some people with aphantasia may still report experiencing visual imagery within dreams.
Aphantasia Is a Gift
You have a mind that is naturally quiet and image-less. You don't have a million random thoughts and mental pictures floating through your head distracting you. You do not have to deal with a Monkey Mind. Created by Network Member Mike Swanson using DALL-E.
Many people with aphantasia seem to have been born with the condition, but some case studies suggest that it can be acquired following an injury or an event such as a stroke that causes damage to part of the brain.
Scientists aren't sure what causes aphantasia. Most people with this condition are born with it and are otherwise healthy. Others develop it after a brain injury. The ability to create mental images exists on a spectrum.
A subgroup of 34.7% of participants with aphantasia reported distress significantly associated with lower well-being and high levels of anxiety and depression.
Aphantasia is a heterogeneous neuropsychological syndrome consisting of the inability to create mental images. We argue that its progressive form may be a harbinger of dementia.
Aphantasia seems to affect whether or not people build mental models while they read. One study found that when reading descriptions of scary scenarios, people with aphantasia showed less emotional or physiological responses, suggesting their comprehension was less affected by imagined or simulated sensory experience.
On the one hand, aphantasia impacts our ability to vividly recall past experiences, imagine the future, or perform at cognitive tasks involving mental imagery. On the other hand, it challenges perceptions around tasks previously believed to have “required” mental imagery.
Aphantasia is a phenomenon in which people are unable to visualize imagery. While most people are able to conjure an image of a scene or face in their minds, people with aphantasia cannot.
MANY APHANTASICS say they don't enjoy reading fiction, and see their aphantasia as an explanation for why books have never held their attention.