Dr. Adam Zeman is a pioneering figure in the study of aphantasia, the inability to produce mental imagery. In a recent discussion with him, I explored the evolving understanding of this fascinating condition, its terminology, and the spectrum of experiences associated with it. Dr. Zeman defines aphantasia as the lack of mental imagery . Initially, this definition referred solely to visual imagery (or what might be termed visual aphantasia ). Over time, the term has broadened to encompass deficits across multiple sensory modalities, forming what is now referred to as multisensory aphantasia . This includes conditions such as auditory aphantasia (the inability to imagine sounds), tactile aphantasia (a lack of imagined touch), and emotional aphantasia (the absence or reduction of emotional imagery). While we didn’t discuss all the possible senses, I mentioned I am aware that researchers are currently investigating up to 20 modalities. This number wasn’t confirmed during our discu...
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