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aphantasia [2025/01/11 08:27] – [Controversies in Diagnosis and Debate on Validity] tomaphantasia [2025/01/11 14:47] (current) – [Aphantasia] tom
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 Apart from this framing it is e.g. possible that a weak or absent ability to have imagined visual sensations is balanced by a heightened resistance to intrusive thoughts [(Neuroscience2024>Neuroscience Article 12.2024[[https://neurosciencenews.com/visual-silence-aphantasia-28249/|Visual Silence: Exploring Aphantasia Neuroscience December 15, 2024]])] . There is considerable variation in people's ability to experience imagined visualizations, ranging from a lifelong inability (Congenital Aphantasia) to those who report imagined experiences as vivid as actual perception (Hyperphantasia).  Apart from this framing it is e.g. possible that a weak or absent ability to have imagined visual sensations is balanced by a heightened resistance to intrusive thoughts [(Neuroscience2024>Neuroscience Article 12.2024[[https://neurosciencenews.com/visual-silence-aphantasia-28249/|Visual Silence: Exploring Aphantasia Neuroscience December 15, 2024]])] . There is considerable variation in people's ability to experience imagined visualizations, ranging from a lifelong inability (Congenital Aphantasia) to those who report imagined experiences as vivid as actual perception (Hyperphantasia). 
  
 +The most current state of neurological insight is that People with aphantasia still have a blueprint for mental imagery, even if they can’t consciously ‘see’ it. “People with aphantasia actually do seem to have images of a sort, they remain too weak or distorted to become conscious or be measured by our standard measurement techniques” [( :harvard:Matson2025>>
 +authors   : Lilly Matson
 +title     : Mind blindness decoded: people who can’t see with their ‘mind’s eye’ still activate their visual cortex, study finds 
 +publisher : UNSW
 +published : January 2025
 +url       : https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/01/mind-blindness-decoded-people-who-cant-see-with-their-minds-eye-still-activate-their-visual-cortex-study-finds
 +)][( :harvard:Chang2025>>
 +authors   : Chang, Shuai et al.
 +title     : Imageless imagery in aphantasia revealed by early visual cortex decoding
 +publisher : Current Biology
 +published : January 2025
 +url       : https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(24)01652-X
 +)]
  
 ===== Controversies in Diagnosis and Debate on Validity ===== ===== Controversies in Diagnosis and Debate on Validity =====
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 <blockquote>Our results show that when someone with aphantasia tries to imagine, their brains still seem to create a representation in the early visual cortex. It’s like their brain is doing the math but skipping the final step of showing the result on a screen. <blockquote>Our results show that when someone with aphantasia tries to imagine, their brains still seem to create a representation in the early visual cortex. It’s like their brain is doing the math but skipping the final step of showing the result on a screen.
-<cite>Prof. Joel Pearson.<cite></blockquote>+<cite>Prof. Joel Pearson.</cite></blockquote>
  
 Research exploring this phenomenon investigates how differences in visualization abilities affect involuntary imagery and its neural underpinnings. For example, participants were asked either to visualize or to suppress visualization of specific scenarios, like a pink elephant, while their brain activity was monitored using electroencephalography (EEG). The vividness of individuals’ voluntary visualizations correlated with their likelihood of experiencing involuntary imagery, influenced by neural mechanisms tied to disinhibition, working memory, and feedback processing. Research exploring this phenomenon investigates how differences in visualization abilities affect involuntary imagery and its neural underpinnings. For example, participants were asked either to visualize or to suppress visualization of specific scenarios, like a pink elephant, while their brain activity was monitored using electroencephalography (EEG). The vividness of individuals’ voluntary visualizations correlated with their likelihood of experiencing involuntary imagery, influenced by neural mechanisms tied to disinhibition, working memory, and feedback processing.
  • Last modified: 2025/01/11 08:27
  • by tom