Home » How Does The Presence Of Aphantasia Affect A Person’s Memory?

How Does The Presence Of Aphantasia Affect A Person’s Memory?

by Sonal Shukla

Aphantasia is the inability of a person to reproduce images in his mind. Even though this phenomenon is not fully understood, according to scientists, it has great potential since, according to their calculations, about 2% of the entire population has this feature. In addition, aphantasia and memory are closely related.

Aphantasia Test

Before we talk about how aphantasia and memory are related, it is worth doing a little test. It will determine if you have such a feature.

Making an aphantasia test is extremely easy. You do not need to contact the family doctor or take tests. You need to close your eyes and try to imagine any geometric figure of any color, for example, a red square. If you succeed, then you do not have this feature. But, if you have any problems, try rerunning the aphantasia test. If the result is the same, then you are in the 2% of the population with aphantasia.

It is worth noting that this is not a disease or a symptom of the disease, so there is no need to see a doctor. It simply means that you have an unusual feature that makes you unique. Among successful people, there are also quite a few with aphantasia; the most famous of them are:

Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar and former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios;
James Harkin, podcaster and TV presenter;
Richard Herring, comedian and podcaster;
Glen Keane, animator, author, and illustrator;
Mark Lawrence, fantasy author, and many others.

Most of them have achieved a lot in their careers thanks to the ability to think outside the box.

Aphantasia Treatment

Since this phenomenon is not a disease, you do not need an aphantasia cure. Of course, you can consult a doctor, take tests, and the specialist will say that you do not have any abnormalities, which means that you do not need medical treatment.

However, many experts worldwide are striving to develop a training strategy that will teach you to reproduce various objects and images in your mind. It should be said right away that achieving great results has not yet been possible. So far, not a single person has been able to get rid of aphantasia completely. However, there is a case where a guy with congenital aphantasia learns to imagine while falling asleep.

The fact is that the same cerebral cortex responsible for imagination is also accountable for dreams. So, if you have no vision, this part of the brain sleeps during the day and is activated at night. It leads to the fact that aphantasia dreams are often more vivid, colorful, and unusual than ordinary people’s.

Based on the above theory, the latest methods for aphantasia cure are built. Experts offer people with a lack of imagination to look at beautiful pictures throughout the day, walk around different places, and then try to reproduce them in their minds before going to bed. It is also sometimes useful to read a book before bed, copy all the events with your eyes closed and try to fall asleep. After such training, aphantasia dreams become even more vivid.

What Is The Connection Between Aphantasia And Memory?

There are several types of memory, each of which is useful. For example, people with eidetic memory are less likely to forget where they put their keys and work more efficiently with large amounts of statistical data. However, it is impossible to master this without imagination.

Practice shows that aphantasia and memory are interconnected. So, if people have this feature, they will not be able to improve eidetic and photographic memory, and they are also unlikely to be able to create a mnemonic device inside their minds to master the method of Loci. However, most likely, he will remember information that he read from a piece of paper or heard on the radio faster.

Everyone who has vision problems knows that other senses are more aggravated. The same processes occur with memory.

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