Aphantasia and Anauralia: The Blind and Deaf Mind

Imagine the frustration of waking up one day and being unable to visualize memories or hear an inner voice. This is the reality for some people who live with a “blind and deaf mind.” These individuals can’t talk to themselves or picture their most cherished memories. Like Gollum losing Smeagol, it's as if they’re missing a part of their inner dialogue. These are people who lack a mental process most of us experience every day, whether it’s rehearsing conversations in the shower, imagining winning arguments, or remembering a favorite childhood recipe. This phenomenon is known as Aphantasia and Anauralia.

What Does Science Say About This Condition?

If I asked you to close your eyes and recall a beautiful sunset, some of you might mentally go back years and picture the sun setting on the horizon, while others may struggle to generate any image. This inability to create mental images is known as aphantasia (Zeman et al., 2015).

Sir Francis Galton first noted The phenomenon of aphantasia in 1880, but it was considered rare. It wasn’t until 2015 that neurologist Adam Zeman and his team confirmed its existence and renewed scientific interest in the condition (Zeman et al., 2015). Although usually congenital, it can sometimes appear after a brain injury (Zeman et al., 2020). Despite its recent recognition, we still don’t know how common it is, and many wonder if it’s real.

Can You Live Without Mental Visualization?

Surprisingly, people with aphantasia live full, functional lives, often unaware they’re different. When they hear about “mental images,” they usually interpret it as a metaphor, shocked to learn others can “see” or “feel” vivid memories (Zeman, 2015). In memory and numerical skills studies, these individuals perform similarly to those without aphantasia. However, they tend to have some difficulties with imagination and social skills, similar to those seen in individuals on the autism spectrum. Their dreams are typically less sensory-rich, lacking vivid images or sounds, and they’re generally less prone to experience fear or self-induced hallucinations.

A Possible Explanation: Metacognition or Visual Ability?

Some researchers suggest that the challenge for people with aphantasia may relate to metacognition—the ability to be aware of our thoughts. To test this, researchers Rebecca Keogh and Joel Pearson conducted an experiment using binocular rivalry, where different images are shown to each eye, and the brain alternates between them. For people without aphantasia, imagining a specific image tends to make it more likely to dominate perception—an effect known as priming (Pearson et al., 2015). But people with aphantasia don’t show this influence, suggesting that their brains genuinely don’t generate these visual images.

Anauralia: A Mind Without an Inner Voice

Anauralia is the absence of an “inner voice.” People who experience this describe thought without “sound,” as if they’re “deaf and mute” in their minds. In fact, those with aphantasia often also experience anauralia. It’s hypothesized that this might stem from a lack of communication between the visual cortex and frontal areas of the brain (Pearson, 2019).

Implications and Future Research

Research on aphantasia and anauralia is still in its early stages, but it offers a fascinating look at how our brains work. Understanding how these conditions impact the quality of life and mental processes could open new avenues in neuroscience and the study of consciousness and perception.

If you or someone you know lives with aphantasia or anauralia, share your experience!

References

• Galton, F. (1880). Statistics of mental imagery. Mind, 5(19), 301-318.

• Pearson, J., & Westbrook, F. (2015). Phantom perceptions: voluntary and involuntary nonretinal vision. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(5), 278-284.

• Zeman, A., Dewar, M., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Lives without imagery – Congenital aphantasia. Cortex, 73, 378-380.

• Zeman, A., et al. (2020). Visual imagery and memory in aphantasia: Aphantasia as a disorder of voluntary imagery generation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(45), 28427-28436.