Aphantasia: A Definition
Aphantasia is sometimes called “the condition of a blank mind”, whereby individuals cannot generate images in their minds. This could be beyond visual imagination to also losing the capacity for imagining sounds, tastes and other sensory experiences which is known as deep aphantasia.
The Polyglot Mind and Inner Speech
Many people have an inner voice that thinks ‘in’ the language they speak normally. With this inner voice, diverse languages can be simulated therefore altering the experience of thought. However some people with aphantasia may not possess an internal visual or auditory landscape yet still have imagined tactile or emotional sensations.
Subliminal Ideas and Mental Workings
Typically, people are able to pre-hear their own speech before speaking aloud in their mind though much of what our brain does remains unconscious. For example, many might drive on autopilot to familiar places while distracted, highlighting the brain’s ability to function without conscious thought.
These prereading or visualizing processes might not occur among aphants. Questions then arise as to whether such persons can be said to think at all when they lack all sensory imaginings.
Miscommunication, Frustrations and Jokes
When explaining how they see things Aphantasics face misunderstandings frequently. There is a common misconception that these people have visual imaginations but are unable to describe them and feel frustration at this assumption which may appear patronizing. Absence of certain types of imagined experience distinguishes those who do not imagine from others who do by feeling one another’s presence clearly.
What Leads To Aphantasia?
According to researchers, there is under stimulation of the brain’s posterior regions when frontal areas fail to trigger brain activity leading to Aphantasia. Creating imagined experiences requires this feedback loop or mechanism among others. If more attention can be paid towards understanding these mechanisms, it will promote a greater awareness about the range of cognitive variations experienced by different individuals.
Creating Awareness
A deep aphantasia insight can encourage understanding and tolerance of the diversified thinking methods. Better communication and empathy can be achieved by encouraging tolerance and open-mindedness when talking about different cognitive experiences.
This continues to bring more light into understanding, showing it in its deeper sense as something that keeps on changing, further complicating the concepts involved in the human mind’s study of aphantasia thoughts and their processing.
