Aphantasia
Welcome to Meet My Autistic Brain. I’m your host, The Autistic Woman™. I discovered autism late in life and in this podcast I share my experiences and challenges so you can learn what it’s like to be autistic.
Visualization and Aphantasia
At one time in my life my job was to review building and landscape plans for compliance with city codes. It involved measuring areas to determine whether they met the standards for the amount and variety of landscape plants for commercial buildings. Fortunately for me it was all on paper.
I say that because I have always struggled with visualizing certain things. I can’t look at a plan and even imagine what the building or landscape will look like. I can’t see a paint color and know what it will look like on the wall. It doesn’t matter how many plans I’ve reviewed or how many paint colors I’ve seen, I can’t do it.
You may think that applies to everyone but in my experience it doesn’t. I am in awe of those who can do that like architects and engineers and many others who aren’t necessarily professionals.
I’m not real good with maps which may be in part why I prefer using a visual landmark that doesn’t require imagination but memorization. Like turn left at the big tree or take a right at the first driveway after the light. I love Google street view so I can see ahead of time what the streets and building I’m going to will look like.
Visualization is on a spectrum. I have a friend who still uses GPS to drive to my house from his even though he’s been there literally hundreds of times. What he sees as he drives does not stick with him so he can’t visualize the drive.
At an extreme end of the visualization spectrum is aphantasia, a condition in which people cannot visualize images in their mind. I don’t have aphantasia because I am a visual thinker. In my case I can’t help but think in pictures except in certain areas as I described.
Aphantasia is a relatively new condition, and it is still not fully understood. It is thought to be caused by a difference in the way that the brain processes visual information. A person may have the same visual experiences as other people but they don’t create mental images of them.
A person with aphantasia is likely to have prosopagnosia aka face blindness. They also may not be able to remember the past or imagine the future. Aphantasia can affect the ability to dream. While some will only dream in words others have vivid dreams. Dreaming involves a different part of the brain, which aphantasia may or may not affect.
Some studies show a higher incidence of aphantasia in autistic adults and adults who have autistic traits. More study is needed.
Some people are born with aphantasia. Some acquire it through traumatic incidents or brain injury. It affects about 2% of the population so there are millions of people around the world who have it. Many people with aphantasia are unaware of it because they assume that everyone else thinks the same way they do.
Scientists aren’t sure what how or why the brain processes visual information differently in aphantasia.
They are studying the role of the visual cortex which is the part of the brain that processes what our eyes see. Research is ongoing.
People with aphantasia may be unable to conjure a clear image of a family member. It can affect their ability to remember or recall. Many know they are thinking of the object but can’t picture it. It may be hard understanding metaphors that rely on visual imagery. They may have trouble following directions that involve visual information.
There is no specific test for aphantasia. There are questionnaires used to assess a person's ability to visualize. I’ll put a link to one in the show notes.
There is no cure for aphantasia because it’s not a disease. There are things that a person can do to cope including practicing mindfulness and meditation, relying on other senses, such as touch and hearing, using memory aids or mnemonic devices like songs, acronyms, rhymes etc. You may remember the alphabet song if you learned it as a kid.
An autistic person may be more likely to have aphantasia but more research is needed to be sure. Many autistics are visual thinkers and don’t have aphantasia. There is still research that needs to be done to understand aphantasia and its connection, if any, to autism.
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This has been Meet My Autistic Brain. I’m the Autistic Woman™. Slava Ukraine!