Okay so some background, congenital total aphant here; I first realized my brain was different than the standard operating procedure of the majority of folks back in 2019-2020 when I stumbled upon an article about Aphantasia and suddenly it all made sense. I have a total lack of mental imagery and no inner monologue either, after several years of research and reading random published scientific articles I was feeling pretty helpless about ever gaining this seemingly superpowered sense that others had. A few weeks ago I read someone's comment or post on this subreddit (can't remember their username for reference sorry :/) about how they had trained themselves to imagine and when they did they could feel themselves "working out their brain" or something of the like. I thought "ah what the hell I spend so many sleepless nights wasting time anyways".

So I started laying in bed and trying to imagine something, for some reason I seemed to really hyperfocus on the idea of seeing a spinning blue star. After a few nights it felt like I could TELL when I was using the visual imagination part of my brain even though I couldn't see anything. It feels like a warm, tense, kinda sore feeling centered on my forehead in line with the top of my eyebrows. When I would get distracted from my strong concept of spinning blue star the tension would start to leave that spot which made it easy to tell when and when not I was using the "right" portion of my brain I guess.

About a week ago I had a breakthrough of sorts, I was focusing so hard on my star thought my brain actually started to hurt and suddenly my eyes start bugging out, flicking around super quickly and erratically and something felt different, suddenly, and I know it sounds kind of far-fetched but as someone who's never been able to see ANYTHING in their head I swear to GOD I went from seeing black to IMAGINING black. I celebrated this seemingly small victory with my family (most of which are also Aphants, definitely a genetic aspect to it for sure) but they were quick to brush it off. It's not like I could blame them, I was claiming to have switched from black to black XD. Needless to say I was pumped.

Well last night during my imagination exercise I was trying to see people or things or just really all sorts of random thoughts and concepts but to no avail. So i figured maybe I just DID make up seeing imaginary blackness instead of real blackness, but I could SEE/FEEL the difference. So instead I just tried something simple, changing what color I saw. I started with yellow and holy fucking shit after just a few minutes I SAW YELLOW! Then I got paranoid and thought maybe it's just all in my head (no pun intended), so I went through all the colors of the rainbow, and motherfucking sure enough the colors kept changing! Interesting tidbit I had a REALLY hard time visualizing purple for some reason??? After playing around with this new color thing for 10 minutes I realized how crazy it was that I was doing something I'd never been able to do in my life and how this might totally change the study of Aphantasia and the adrenaline spike hit me, I was shaking with excitement I literally felt manic. I ran to my brothers room and woke him up at 5am just to tell him, god bless his soul that poor man deserves his sleep.

I plan on trying to imagine colored shapes next, but honestly its a LOT of work just to see the colors rn. My brain still feels sore like a muscle after a workout but a good sore like that other post described it as.

But I'm also just one guy, I'm wondering if there's anyone I should contact about this and thought this would be the place to ask. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer if I can!

As a total aphant, I don't believe I could provide anything even remotely close to a useful description of perpetrator of a crime.

Do any of you have any experience being in that position? Did you explain your mental imagery situation to the police? If so, how did it work out for you?

I'm curious if any total aphants out there have tried DMT, as I haven't gotten to. I know it's famous for visuals, and I don't get those with other psychedelics at all.

if you had a dream the previous night, do you just remember the feeling/info or can you remember seeing it and what it looked like?

Watching Crossing Jordan, I always found Jordan’s crime scene visualizations so intense. She doesn’t just imagine a detail or two—she steps into the scene, feeling everything like she’s actually there. She and her dad or Woody are in the middle of it, as if time rewinds and they become part of the crime. It’s not like she’s watching from a distance; Jordan literally sees herself in the clothes, the expressions, the posture of the people she’s trying to understand, almost embodying them.

She’s not just seeing things either—she’s reacting to them. When she visualizes, it’s as if she can smell the air, hear the echoes, and feel the mood of the scene. It’s so real that she’s transported back, fully immersed. She might be replaying a detail of someone’s body language or focusing on a sound, and for her, it’s all right there, tangible and accessible, even if it happened days or weeks ago.

As someone with aphantasia, I find this so hard to relate to—imagine having such vivid, in-your-face imagery, down to the smallest details, to the point where it feels like you’re living it. For me, thinking is all abstract concepts and words, so Jordan’s experience feels like a completely different reality. It wasn’t until I learned about hyperphantasia that I realized people actually experience scenes this vividly, to the point that their mind feels like a portal.

Does anyone else find it mind-boggling that some people can do this? I used to think these scenes were just creative effects for TV, but now I wonder if this could really reflect someone’s actual experience.

I've always loved literature, tho I'm not really an avid reader. While my love for it remains the same, I often struggle with finishing books, especially fantasy ones. I get easily mesmerized by art and having aphantasia makes it hard for me to enjoy a good book. Have I been doing things wrong the whole time? With comics or manga, I can easily read thru a hundred chapters in one seating, but with novels, my head gets fatigued after 10 pages or so.

I’m trying to explain to my mom and she isn’t quite understanding because I am able to draw a cat for example from memory.

The best I can think of is that my brain is like a pitch black file room and when I think of something my brain pulls out a written report and reads it to myself

I recently discovered I certainly have Aphantasia - however when i have taken hallucinogens i did visualize.

I think this is what made me greatly attracted to hallucinogens - being able to get visuals in my mind eye for the first time (when not dreaming). I wonder if others feel the same?

Back in high school I took a philosophy class. The teacher was an awesome guy, could speak something like 10 languages. He explained that knowing more languages allowed for flexibility of thought, as certain concepts are easier to express in some languages than others (e.g. Ancient Greek versus Latin).

At one point he explained that animals and babies couldn't really think, because they didn't have language and therefore couldn't form thoughts. At the time I didn't understand this, because I often think in images and textures (i.e. the concept itself is an image that I have to "translate" into words). I was thinking on it earlier this month since he passed recently--and it hit me that he may have had aphantasia (or was closer to it on the visualization spectrum).

There is no way I'll ever know. As a visualizer, the focus on language as the sole mechanism of thought indicates to me that he had a different mental environment than I do. Any thoughts?

Has anyone read the einstein factor and used any of the methods in this book?

or even read other books and had success? if so what books?

For folks who just have aphantasia and not other neurodivergent conditions (such as ADHD).

Hi, yesterday I discovered that I had Aphantasia my whole life. I have an inner voice but no mental pictures that would be close to the senses when you actually see the picture. Just memories of the pictures or scenes but not their visuals.

It’s like knowing what and where the object is or knowing how the person looks like in a specific film or music video in your head but not having that picture in your eyes while trying to visualise it in your head.

Now the interesting part. I work in a music industry. And when I listen to music or when I make music. I CAN SEE THINGS. In my mind. Clearly. I can build worlds in my head and add details as long as I know what kind of sound I’m going after. I’m sure you have seen speed-art videos on YouTube. When a person screen records his process from a blank paper to a whole art scenery. Same process happens in my head and I can “see” it. My mind enables my eye proteins or something to actually see it physically in mind. Instead of darkness when I hear sounds I can visualise. That’s may be the reason why I never knew I had some form of aphantasia because I thought I was normal as other people.

Please let me know if you guys had something like that. I hope I’m not the only person like this.

When I was a child, I wanted an imaginary friend like all the other children, so I made one and I called her Sarah, I knew Sarah was just air, I was talking to air, and yet I went on as to fit it. When teachers told us to visualize, when my mother told me to count sheep, when I tried to meditate, nothing. I didn’t realize I was supposed to see. One day I was scrolling on YouTube when a girl talked about her father having this, and when it clicked for me I sobbed. I realized I couldn’t picture the faces of my family, that’s what bothered me the most, especially since my grandmother was sick at the time, I told myself I wouldn’t be able to remember what she looked like. The thing is, when my eyes are open, I can visualize in my head, I don’t know if that makes sense, I don’t know how it does, but I can. It’s faint, no where near fully seeing, I don’t even know what this is, how this is possible, what I am. When I try to picture things in my head, nothing, just pure darkness. Then I found out apparently you can actually see things in front of you when you imagine, explaining imaginary friends, which freaked me out. For me, all I can do is keep my eyes open and vaguely see the actions of what goes on in my mind, and a part of me wonders if that even makes sense, if it’s normal, and if it aphantasia. Also, and I don’t know if this is important, but I can still dream, I don’t every night, but more than I used to. I’m just confused, and I want to know what this is, and what the hell in supposed to do.

For as long as I can remember I've never been able to visualize images in my head. I remember discovering this "label" called Aphantasia. As of today I've discovered a breakthrough. I'm a very self conscious person, I'm very logical, open minded and observant.

I have total darkness mental imagery, or as you will hear "had". I've gone into a lot of different research and philosophy in life and about what is our "consciousness". It brought me to a road in which baffled me. It was called the "split brain experiment"

The experiment in question is when the bridge which connects and communicates the two hemispheres to each other is cut. It was an early brain surgery technique to help patients who had severe seizure episodes constantly. Now what does it mean if you became two? Seriously imagine in your mind consciously your "sense of self" "who I am". Now imagine your brain just got cut in half the bridge which connects the two hemispheres. There is serious repercussions to this.

I love this it's so fascinating by the way! (And seriously terrifying)

The repercussions are your consciousness is split in half. You become two separate consciousness's. To keep it short for what will still remain long. The two hemispheres have allocated abilities of functioning. The left hemisphere is responsible for speaking as an example. The visual cortex as we know is inverted wiring, it crosses, the left eye is processed in the right hemisphere and the right eye is processed in the left hemisphere.

There was an experiment which shows that with this dual consciousness there is inherently weird results. For example you can show the left eye an image the patient can't describe the image they are seeing because the region which is responsible for talking cannot receive communication or information from the left eye or that hemisphere. You ask them questions and they respond that they don't see it. You hand them a pencil to draw the image and they can draw the image! Amazing! It's a form of an unawareness from the verbal conscious self yet the information is available!

Disclosure) The text below was cleaned up with ChatGPT so you can better understand.

In split-brain experiments, the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres, has been severed, preventing communication between them. Here’s how this affects vision and language:

When an image is shown to the left visual field (processed by the right hemisphere), the information can’t cross over to the left hemisphere, where language and speech are usually located. So, the patient cannot verbally describe what they saw. However, the right hemisphere can still control the left hand, allowing the patient to draw or respond nonverbally to what they see, even though they can't articulate it.

Conversely, if an image is shown to the right visual field (processed by the left hemisphere), the information can be directly processed in the hemisphere responsible for language. This allows the patient to describe the image verbally because it’s reaching the language-dominant hemisphere directly.

Left visual field (processed by right hemisphere): Patient can't verbally describe it but can draw it with the left hand. Right visual field (processed by left hemisphere): Patient can verbally describe it. This split-brain phenomenon highlights how each hemisphere can specialize in different functions and how critical the corpus callosum is for integrating those functions across hemispheres.

In split-brain experiments, when patients are shown an image in their left visual field (processed by the right hemisphere) and asked to describe what they see, they typically respond with something like, "I don’t see anything" or "Nothing is there." This is because the left hemisphere, which handles speech, has no access to the information in the right hemisphere where the image is processed.

The patients aren’t consciously aware of what they saw in their left visual field because the language-dominant left hemisphere cannot receive or articulate that information without the connection provided by the corpus callosum. However, if asked to draw or select an object with their left hand (controlled by the right hemisphere), they can often do so accurately—demonstrating that they "know" the information nonverbally, even if they can’t articulate it.

This phenomenon shows how each hemisphere can have separate awareness or "knowledge" in split-brain patients, even if only one hemisphere can communicate it verbally.

!!!!! This is similar to us Aphantasia! We have a computer which processes information we try to imagine something but we can't "see" anything we just "know" what it is we are imagining it's like a computer without a monitor!

Onto my experience

I believe our visualizations are entirely different sometimes for each individual. For us who can't see anything I consider our "imagination" that has no visuals is developed in a separate location in the brain which doesn't relate to or is interconnected in the system of the visual cortex. I believe we entirely "see" the images consciously but it's not related to how non-aphants visualize where they can "see". When we "see" our images it's more of a feeling or "knowing" compared to normal visualizers.

Now for what I've done. I've started to practice image streaming. What is image streaming? It's the process of closing your eyes and sitting there. You sit there and look at the void dark mental minds eye. I see total darkness. I sat there for 5 minutes, self observant, I kept asking what do I see? It's just total darkness. I try to think of something and all I see is black. Then I noticed something I see blobs of light. They appear and disappear, I raise my self consciousness I ask my self what do I see? I see these tiny blobs of light they flicker and change shape rapidly. It's a visual thing that I'm "seeing" unlike how I imagine something in my mind.

During this I look for anything to describe. I tell my self I'm going to grow the shape of the light. I'm not in my mind trying to create any image I'm simply taking this visual thing that is showing up with my eyes closed and seeing if I can manipulate it. The light takes shape, it begins to move and grow, it disappeared entirely a few times and then I relax and try to make it appear again. This light not a white bright light. It's more like a static which has a blueish color by default for me at least I'm not sure if other people have different colors in what ever you call this.

Anyways I keep sitting there I change this blob of light, all of the sudden I had a random image pop up it was a very basic 2d image of a pacman ghost that took that form from the light. I started to get basic shapes and objects in a 2d form with this light. A 2d knife showed up, a sword, the tip of a finger, and I was able to actually think of a letter and the light changed shape into the letter I was thinking of. It was very faint but I could actually "visually" see it. This is the first time ever that I have seen anything. AND GUESS WHAT. I saw my first color in my mind ever, during this time I had a beautiful rainbow color line that had curves in it that I was able to see the colors. LIKE ACTUALLY SEE THEM.

So I'm telling you, as someone who is very logical, and open-minded. Do not convince your self you can't "see" anything. Practice, don't just close your eyes and try to think of something and get mad when you see nothing. Sit there and close your eyes and specifically keep your self alert be patient, do not get angry, sit there with your eyes closed. Focus your eyes and pretend you are searching for something physically not mentally. You can keep your eyes still don't go crazy moving your eyes around with them closed. I mean you can if you want, but it's not necessary.

I'm not saying that everyone can visualize but you don't know until you attempt to exercise and train a region in which has no activity. Due to never having visualized in this part of my brain it's a very interesting and it feels as though it's actually visually "seeing" even if they are very basic at the moment and takes 5 minutes to make appear. I saw my first color and that was the most important thing to me. I'm tired of this dark void. I want to imagine and visualize so many things. I want color in my mind, I have this deepest desire. I will reach my goal anything is possible when it comes to the neuroplasticity of the brain. This is my desire and I will reach it.

Much love :) we are all but the Universe experiencing itself. I'm not religious so this is my way to say that I have no hatred or hate toward anyone. When you allow yourself to let go of your ego partially (never fully, or you would never stand up) you realize that we are all the same collective body of energy and mass.

So please don't get angry or mad at me if you don't agree or have doubt! Let's keep the discussions friendly if you have any doubts or questions feel free to comment! :)

Ok so I am a hazy almost aphant, with like 80% blindness. I’m reading a book right now and realized I can’t put a finger on what my natural inner voice is. It doesn’t sound like my speaking voice. But I can change it and use different voices for different characters. So I guess I can’t see vivid images but I have vivid inner audio?

What is the experience with other aphants as far as hearing their inner voice while reading?

Often times at a gathering or party I'll greet someone more than once, lol. It must come off as ridiculous because they usually hesitate, like they're not sure if I'm kidding which is what tips me off that I'm doing it... I wish I was joking, but does anyone have an idea to help stop this? It's honestly funny now while I write it.

Children with aphantasia seem to have more difficulty learning the multiplication table than others. Is this really the case for you (or your child)?

View Poll

Years ago I took "keyboarding", typing lessons. I sucked at it. Still do. Now I realize most people can visualize the keyboard.

How are you with understanding schemes and packages that the game of football consists of? I’m a big football fan, but it’s frustrating because I try to understand the ins and outs of the game, but my aphantasia really gets in the way of that. I think that’s why I had a hard time learning the playbook when I actually played myself

Should I ever try to stop being an aphantasiac? I'm really scared to leave Aphantasia back...I've only known I've had it for a year now but I'm starting to like me with aphantasia because, without it, I won't be me anymore, I won't have the same personality, deep thoughts, or intelligence. Ill start being someone else, someone common and like everyone else...Nothing is fascinating in that, that's boring and I don't know if I could ever get my aphantasia back after losing it, I don't know if I would ever get to be me again.

So I was spelling a word for my kiddos and I have to imagine thr sound of the word and imagine it written out to spell it out for him

I was just wondering about a first person account of verbally spelling out a word without writing it down from someone with aphantasia.

Cheera

Yesterday i was talking a lot about how i can't see images or hear sounds in my imagination, on a different subreddit. Today, i woke at 5:30am and spent the last 2.5 hours chilling in bed.

Whilst lying in bed, i closed my eyes, and suddenly i was 'seeing' my room, from the same perspective as when I'm awake, lying down, like when you have a dream and you see stuff, but i was like... controlling it. And I was awake, with my eyes closed. And there was a tv screen floating in the air in front of me. It looked like what you see on a computer monitor...

I realised i was imagining a picture, so i 'willed' myself for the tv to unmute itself, and i could hear faint NOISES like the sound of a distant tv show, with a man talking, and my whole body shuddered with a fuzzy feeling of awe.

It was like literally seeing reality and hearing real voices, but in my mind. Then i imagined...carpet! And i could SEE THE CARPET! Then it all went back to black again like normal. I opened my eyes and started typing this post!

Can we... train ourselves to be phantasic and auralic?

I don't know if I have ADHD and the task to find a trustworthy psychiatrist feel way overwhelming to do evaluation, but I have a lot of symptoms even though some of them are kind of hidden by anxiety.

But what interested me is how people in those videos show their life.

It seems like I have full aphantasia with pretty good spatial thinking. I can "know"/"have" shapes, spaces, rotate them, create 3d models that aren't too hard in my head somewhere (it feels like nowhere). But all my senses works only when they get real information from outside.

And in my case I don't hear thoughts. I don't hear any music. It's like I don't even have "inner critic". I was saying all that bad stuff myself so I was able to just stop saying that (beliefs remained ofc). It's just the same as if I was speaking out loud, but without actually speaking. And I can't speak two things simultaneously, I can jump from one another but only one thing at time.

I don't know how understandable my text is, but it seems it's just not possible for me to be the same as people on those videos. But I still switch tasks the same way all the time, just silently.

Ps. Can you say it's quiet in your head even without medication? (I have only my voice and it's far from "noisy" in my head)

Pss. I actually excepted this imperfect post to be ignored or even downvoted, but I got my answer and I am grateful for all the replies

Hi everyone, I know there have been a few posts about this on this sub and I just read through several of them but didn’t really find what I was looking for. Many of them were very high level psychoanalysis type stuff that honestly just went over my head 😂

I’m just wondering, in plain terms, who here has experienced dissociation and more specifically depersonalization, and what that experience was like for you as someone with aphantasia. I’ve always seen depersonalization described as like seeing a movie of yourself and I never related to that. Turns out I have aphantasia, so makes sense I can’t see a movie of myself, right? But recently I mentioned to someone that sometimes I hear someone talking out loud, can’t figure out who it is, and then realize it’s me. They couldn’t relate to that whatsoever and now I’m wondering if that’s how people without visual imagery experience depersonalization. Would love to hear your experiences!

I can't revisit old memories. If I thought someone liked me and they say, while angry, that they always hated me, I just believe that. If they don't take it back, I don't drift back to some happy medium. It's practically digital.

The impact is immediate, too. There is no backlog to revisit and nothing to move on from. I get the sense that other people I know just need time to get over things. Time, for me, just gives the poison a chance to do its work.

My moods are locked to those switches. My sense of reality determines how I feel and what I think I need to do. Nothing flows the other way. My mood does not affect what I think is real.

Does anyone relate?