Aphantasia
Try to picture a sunrise, the beach, or the ocean. Seems easy, right? But this is impossible for people who have a rare condition of absent voluntary imagery — they are unable to picture things in their mind's eye. The condition was recently named "aphantasia," the opposite of "phantasia" – the classical Greek term for imagination.
Most of the few people who have been identified by scientists to have aphantasia seem to have been born with it, and researchers hope to use neuroimaging to find clues in the brains of those affected. But in a new commentary, two researchers suggest that a psychogenic form of the condition may exist as well.
Paper:
https://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/medicalschool/research/neuroscience/docs/theeyesmind/Lives_without_imagery.pdf
Article & test:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34039054
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/science/aphantasia-minds-eye-blind.html?_r=0
#neuroscience #research #aphantasia
There is an ongoing debate about whether people who don't acquire language can form complicated mental images. Helen Keller famously claimed that before she learned a language, her thoughts were more like sensations and emotions than concrete or abstract ideas.
ReplyDeleteMichael Schuh avec plaisir ;)
ReplyDeleteMakes sense John Bump , after all deaf people think in sophisticated ways before they have been exposed to language.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, as I'm falling asleep, I can wake enough to challenge myself to visualize my bedroom... And if I keep from opening my eyes, it can be impossible. It's as though that part of my brain is already asleep. I haven't tried to visualize other settings.
ReplyDeleteEach mind is unique in its own way, though some are more interesting than others :)
ReplyDeletebummer!
ReplyDelete