How clearly are you able to dream and envision things? If the answer is not very good, you might have aphantasia. Aphantasia (AY-fan-TAY-zhuh) is the inability to form mental images. This means that if you have aphantasia, you can not visualize senses, people, objects, or other images with your mind’s eye. Now, this is not a disorder or disability, it is a ‘neurological character.’
The exact cause is not fully understood, but researchers suggest that it can be linked to variations in the brain physiology and neural connectivity. As of now, it can not be cured and only affects 1-4% of the population. But it also does not ‘need’ to be cured; it will not affect your daily life in a drastic way, just like being left-handed isn’t that big of a deal. Then what do people with aphantasia see? Well, they ‘see’ darkness or nothingness when they try to visualize. To be specific, they see the color eigengrau or “intrinsic gray,” which is the same color we see when we close our eyes. While this may seem like a negative to some people, studies have shown that people with aphantasia tend to have higher IQ. Aphantasia can come in two forms: congenital, which is where you have it your entire life, and acquired, where you develop it later in life. A way to figure out if you have aphantasia is by using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). It has 16 questions and is scored in 5 sections. Section 1 is ‘nothing’, where you can not imagine a single thing. Section 2 is ‘dim or vague’ where you can imagine the outline of things. Section 3 is ‘moderately clear and vivid’ where you start forming the big idea. Section 4 is “clear and vivid’ where you can now also see details; this is where most people are at. The last section, section 5, is ‘life like’, and this is actually a condition called Hyperphantasia where you can imagine exceptionally vivid and detailed things. Some people like Violet Moore (10) say, “It is hard to imagine the fact that some people can not imagine, daily life would look so different, for example while reading a book you can not imagine what is happening.” But having aphantasia does not mean you can not dream. They might not be able to visualize sense, but they can feel high emotions and feelings. Emma Claire Ho (11) says, “Not being able to dream would be weird, but I am curious as to how it feels.” Overall, though aphantasia is rare, 1-4% would still mean 80,000,000 to 320,000,000 people have it, and they are simply experiencing a different way to view the world. One that does not limit a person’s ability to think, feel, or succeed. (my.clevelandclinic.org)
