Aphantasia, or Mind Blindness, have now found a companion; Anauralia, or Mind Deafness. Not being able to See and Hear within your 'Mind's Eye' and 'Mind's Ear' are linked to numerous cognitive functions, such as self-regulation, problem-solving and memory-recall. I myself, was born with both conditions and in this article, I take a deep dive into the first published, scientific study on the subject matter.
Aphantasia, or Mind Blindness, have now found a companion; Anauralia, or Mind Deafness. Not being able to See and Hear within your ‘Mind’s Eye’ and ‘Mind’s Ear’ are linked to numerous cognitive functions, such as self-regulation, problem-solving and memory-recall. I myself, was born with both conditions and in this article, I take a deep dive into the first published, scientific study on the subject matter.
As iI myself, was born with both the conditions, in this article I take a deep dive into the first published scientific study on the subject matter, which combine and compare these to conditions, and present my real life experiences, to better make you understand, that this is highly disadvantageous and in fact, a disability.
The term “aphantasia” was introduced by Zeman et al. (2015) to describe this lack of visual imagery. However, in addition to reporting a lack of visual imagery, some but not all aphantasic individuals also report weak or absent imagery in other sensory modalities (Dawes et al., 2020; Zeman et al., 2020).
However, both personal accounts (Faw, 2009; Kendle, 2017; Watkins, 2018) and survey studies (Dawes et al., 2020; Zeman et al., 2020) have shown that at least some aphantasics report an inner mental life that is not only “blind” (Keogh and Pearson, 2018), but also completely silent.
Because there is no English word that denotes an absence of auditory imagery, we propose a new term, anauralia, to refer to this. Since auditory representations are believed to be important for key aspects of cognitive functioning as we have noted, further investigation of auditory imagery, its absence in anauralia, and the relationship between anauralia and aphantasia appears overdue.
Aphantasia: No mental visual imagery sense; Mind Blindness
Anauralia: No mental auditory imagery sense; Mind Deafness
Imagery: In this context, imagery means the ability to imagine things, using one of the 7 sensory modalities.
Two recent survey studies have furnished data on the extent to which individuals described as aphantasic, experience imagery in other sensory modalities.
Dawes et al. (2020) used the short form of Betts’ Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (Sheehan, 1967) to assess imagery across seven sensory domains (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, taste, olfactory, emotion) in 267 self- reported aphantasics.
Most of these individuals (73.8%) reporting experiencing some degree of imagery in non-visual sensory modalities, including audition. However, vividness ratings for non-visual imagery were substantially lower for aphantasic compared to control participants.
Within the aphantasic group, while ratings of visual imagery were essentially at “floor,” corresponding to complete absence of imagery, average ratings of non-visual (including auditory) imagery corresponded to weak, but not entirely absent imagery.
In another recent survey study, Zeman and colleagues found that 35.8% of aphantasic respondents reported normal or vivid imagery in at least one other (i.e., non-visual) sensory modality, while 54.2% reported weak or absent imagery in all sensory modalities (Zeman et al., 2020).
In addition to evidence from survey research, some personal accounts of aphantasic individuals describe a mental life that includes imagery in other sensory modalities, including auditory imagery and an “inner voice” (Kendle, 2017).
As noted above, others report a complete absence of auditory imagery (i.e., anauralia; Faw, 2009; Kendle, 2017; Watkins, 2018), or weak auditory imagery (Ross, 2016).
Thus, in the literature to date, detailed information concerning relationships of anauralia and auditory imagery with aphantasia and visual imagery is lacking.
Accordingly, the current study investigated auditory imagery in a sample that included aphantasic participants, who are likely to experience reduced imagery in both the visual and auditory domains.
The study sample also included individuals reporting average, and more vivid than average visual imagery. We aimed to evaluate possible associations and dissociations between visual and auditory imagery, and their absence.
Aphantasia and Anauralia Are Associated: Using the above criteria, 34 of our total sample of 128 participants were categorised as aphantasic; and 29 were categorised as anauralic.
These two groups overlapped to a large extent. As a group, the aphantasic individuals experienced very weak auditory imagery (Mean BAIS-V = 1.42, SD = 0.95), with 82% also being categorised as anauralic.
Similarly, the anauralic group reported very weak visual imagery (Mean VVIQ-M = 1.19, SD =0.88), with 97% also being categorised as aphantasic. As one would expect, given these observations, the association between aphantasia and anauralia was highly reliable, χ2 = 93.42, df = 1, p <0.001.
As Figure 1 and Table 1 illustrate, visual and auditory imagery were strongly associated (Spearman’s rho =0.83). A large majority of self-reported aphantasics were also anauralic, and vice-versa; and most hyperphantasics were also hyperauralic, and vice-versa.
A salient feature of the data is the number of participants who reported a complete or near-complete absence of auditory imagery, meriting inclusion in the anauralia category.
When recruiting participants for this study we sought to include those with weak imagery, but of necessity this involved targeting individuals with weak visual imagery, via aphantasia online interest groups.
Because anauralia is a new term, online interest groups concerned specifically with weak or absent auditory imagery do not exist.
Nevertheless, a substantial number of our participants reported a complete or near-complete absence of auditory imagery: 29 were categorised as anauralic, of whom 25 indicated the extreme minimum option (“1- no image present at all”) for all 14 BAIS-V items.
In the literature to date, investigations of aphantasia have, perhaps unsurprisingly, emphasised associations of visual imagery and its absence with other aspects of psychological functioning.
For example, aphantasia has been linked with poor autobiographical memory (AM) and face recognition problems; and aphantasics appear more likely to follow scientific and technical occupations (Watkins, 2018; Dawes et al., 2020; Zeman et al., 2020).
However, the current data highlight the strength of the association between lack of visual imagery and lack of auditory imagery; and as noted earlier, auditory imagery and auditory representations are thought to play important roles in a wide range of cognitive processes.
Therefore, it is unclear whether associations between aphantasia and other psychological processes, such as autobiographical memory reflect causal influences of visual imagery and its absence; the current findings underline the plausibility of alternative interpretations.
I’m almost 50 years old now, and I was around 45 before it dawned on me, that I did not function, as most other people do, in regards to imagination, emotions and fears.
A few years prior, at age 40, I had been diagnosed with ADHD and Autism, and in the process of researching, what these conditions meant for me personally, I stumbled upon Zeman’s research and ended up taking the VVIQ assessment test. It showed, without any doubt, that I have no visual imagery (Mind’s Eye) whatsoever!
Since I was researching primarily ADHD at that time, I asked my (unofficial) mentor, Dr. Russell A. Barkley, PhD, who is the Darwin of ADHD research, in regards to my lack of self-control (ADHD) and the fact, that I did not have any sense of neither visual nor auditory imagination.
Dr. Barkley explained to me, that all self-control is based on the ability to “talk to yourself, as to be able to restrain yourself from acting on impulses” or in layman’s terms: Talk yourself out of doing something stupid, because you are able to foresee, imagine, the future consequences of your current actions.
Suddenly it all made so much more sense to me, why I had never felt afraid of anything, never been nervous before an exam or afraid of my girlfriend cheating on me etc. I simply do not have the ability to IMAGINE the future!
Likewise, I am unable to reconstruct past life events, like my weddings (plural on purpose). I know that I have been married twice, and I know with whom, where, when etc., and I also have a recollection of both my wedding days.
But I cannot PICTURE them, in my Mind’s Eye, at all.
Furthermore, I am unable to HEAR anything, which I have heard previously in my life, not to say that I am unable to recall what others have said to me, it’s specifically linked to my inability to HEAR the words, in my Mind’s Ear (Inner Voice) as they were said back then.
I do not dream, I do not have nightmares. I do not worry about the past nor the future. I never stress out on things I did, said or should have done. I do not feel shame nor remorse, and I am not prone to get emotionally influenced by association (sympathy and empathy).
That’s the recipe for a stone-cold psychopath, if you’d ever seen one, right? So why am I not a psychopath then? Well, it turns out, that the human mind is one hell of adaptable contraption!
Empathy is rated on a sliding continuum, from COGNITIVE EMPATHETIC to AFFECTIVE EMPATHIC, where most people score around the middle of the continuum.
Cognitive empathy is the ability to UNDERSTAND the emotions of others WITHOUT being physically influenced or involuntary recreating the emotions of others, within yourself, by yourself, whereas affective empathy is the inability to NOT being physically influenced or involuntary recreating the emotions of others, within yourself, by yourself (being “emotionally contaminated” by the emotions of others), according to Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD, the world’s leading researcher in Autism.
I score at the far end on the empathy continuum, almost as an 80% cognitive empathetic, which means that I am perfectly able to understand and recognize the emotions of others and behave with empathy and sympathy towards them, without it causing any physical reaction, within myself, by my self.
15 years before I even had a clue about any of my own ADHD, Autism, Aphantasia and Anauralia, I was certified as a Master NLP Practitioner, and have worked with people change management, CBT counseling and motivational coaching of people in business as well as in their private lives, for more than 15 years now, and that with great success and accolades from my clients.
So, even though I cannot “catch” the emotions of others, I am still able to cognitive relate to there discomfort and/or pain, and I am known for my inate ability to comfort, motivate and inspire others.
But there is grave disadvantages as well, especially in close personal relationships.
Since I do not feel or emote as people do normally, others sometimes find it hard to believe, that I am actually not a stone-cold psychopath.
Let me give you an example; my father died in 2018, and I had lived with him for the last 6 months of his life, taking care of him at his home. He was suffering from multiple terminal illnesses, and was in a lot of pain at the end. When he passed away, I was actually worried for the first time in memory, not about me missing him, but about HOW people would react towards me, at his funeral!
Since I am very factual, autistic in my approach to life, I reasoned that him dying and being pain-free, while missing my mother who had died from Alzheimer’s the year before, was absolutely better for him, that suffering on, so I felt pleased that he had died and gotten his peace.
But I dreaded the funeral, as I knew that other people would expect me to be sad and cry … and I knew that I was not sad and I do not cry, not because of some male macho thing, but simply because my emotions are not linked, as most other people!
I do not often feel sad, happy, angry or worried, since I am unable to IMAGINE my world being anything other than what it IS, right now, right here!
And if you cannot foresee the future bad things in life, nor recall all the shit from your past, then what you are left with, is truly living in the NOW.
This also have significant impact on my love life as well, since I often say exactly what I think, without any forethought on consequences or cultural expectations etc., and I often find myself in a bind, where I have said or done something, which I later understand was hurtful towards my partner, emotionally.
I am not disloyal, flirty or anything like that, and I try to be both emotionally attentive and validating, and I am actually an uncommonly sensitive guy towards women’s emotionality, which do not frighten me, like it does most men.
So as to conclude this article, the science says it there, and I know from personal (and from clients) that this is a real thing, and that it is a sociocultural disability, but also that it is beneficial in regards to mental health, as worrying and anxiety is not possible and therefore not limiting or harmful.
If I should sum this all up, I would say that HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL also applies to your own inner mental world, and that it has both profound disadvantages as well as some advantages.
/ADDspeaker
Barkley, R. A. (1997). Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. Psychological Bulletin, 121(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.121.1.65
Baron-Cohen S. (2009). Autism: the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156, 68–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04467.x
Hinwar RP and Lambert AJ (2021) Anauralia: The Silent Mind and Its Association With Aphantasia. Front. Psychol. 12:744213. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744213
Zeman A, Dewar M, Della Sala S, Lives without imagery – congenital
aphantasia, CORTEX (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.019
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