Hyperphantasia and Aphantasia: Two Ends of the Spectrum Underlying the World of Sight

Anywhere you work, there are diverse difficulties in communication. The frustration that can come from repeatedly explaining a concept to someone you are working with can quickly become debilitating. Now, one may automatically think that this is merely a sign of differing levels of intelligence at play, however, I would personally like to bring another issue to light that is more likely to be the culprit of many communication issues.

My line of work is primarily based in the art field. As to be expected, many obstacles are derived from so many artistic minds coming together to conceive bigger and broader ideas. We often work in hypothetical images in the art field before finalizing any sketches and layout plans. For some, this is a very difficult stage to work from while others seem to naturally thrive in this area until starting to bring the idea into the physical world with its limitations. It quickly came to my attention that certain design groups suffered during the brainstorming sessions before bringing the visual aspects into the process. In essence, there was a form of blindness on their part. However, this has nothing to do with physical sight but rather the mind's eye: the mental faculty to conjure up imagery from either memories or mental creations.

Aphantasia, or the inability to voluntarily visualize mental imagery is a fairly recent term to describe a condition with little recognition due to its inherently private nature. However, life without mental sight is becoming more common knowledge as studies progress on the matter (only 1-3% of the population is estimated to have aphantasia). The first major recognition of aphantasia was brought to attention by a stroke patient referred to as Patient MX. This individual had suffered a stroke due to surgical complications which lead to the loss of his mental vision. Distressed by his inability to recall any visual memories he turned to neurologist: Dr. Adam Zeman in 2003. The term, aphantasia, is relatively new (coined by Dr. Zeman 2015) because of how recent the research has been conducted. More cases of the same anomaly were discovered through further study of stroke victims and those suffering from the after-effects of brain surgery. However, aphantasia is not considered a disorder. There are two major classifications of aphantasia: congenital (born with and often not complete, according to Dr. Zeman study) and acquired (usually from brain damage). Those shown to have the condition were shown to think in very different patterns. Individuals are usually very logical in ways of thinking that compensate for a lack of visual sight. Thoughts are more word and idea-based and they show a great dependence on verbal cues. Although it creates a different thinking pattern, aphantasia does not keep someone from being creative. Jonas Schlatter, a web page designer, finds his artistic career to be very successful in the unique approach aphantasia brought him to embrace. Altogether, understanding aphantasia brings a very different perspective to light when considering the work environment and different communication issues. Showing patience to lack of understanding is essential because of the new perspectives of thought without mental sight. This can push us to instead learn to frame and shape our ideas into logical formats and stretch our own perspective on the communication of ideas. Individuals who think in "aphantastic" ways can be a great benefit to the workforce due to their concentration on verbal information and lack of visual distractions.

Hyperphantasia, or as Zeman defines it: "the above-average ability to create vivid images" (Clemens) lies on the opposite end of the spectrum concerning mental sight. It is a life saturated by overactive mental sight. It should go without saying that hyperphantasia does have its advantages in the field of art. Many whimsical artists have been found to share this perspective stretched by hyperphantasia. One such artist is Dudeney of London. Most of her series are based on the vivid imagery she recalls from her dreams. She met Dr. Zeman in 2017 and gave her perspective of her own personal mental perception and how it affected her life and art. Due to the more obvious nature of hyperphantasia, there is not as much research on the condition, save what has been given voluntarily by individuals such as Dudeney. According to what has been found in Zeman's test subjects, it would seem that those who have hyperphantasia tend to share a common proclivity to psychological disorders. The reasons for this susceptibility are greatly connected to how hyperphantasics take in the world around them. Mental imagery tied to memories lead to much deeper emotions associated with the past such as yearning, nostalgia, and regret. Those who suffered from post-traumatic distress experienced a much heavier burden because of the immediate sense of danger imagery created (see Cossins). An example of hyperphantasia affecting PTSD would be an individual who has gone through sexual abuse or war trauma visualizing what they experienced in vivid imagery that cannot be controlled. Intrusive thoughts of past events or imaginings are very common in hyperphantasics. The brain activity of hyperphantasics is found to be heavily dependant on the occipital lobe (the part of our brain that interprets sight). Again, it is very important to understand that we are all different. Showing patience to overactive imaginations because of overwhelming dependence on mental sight can be difficult when there seems to be a lack of control in their thinking patterns. However, hyperphantasics can be a great asset to the workplace just like an aphantasic. One advantage that they have is their ability to flesh out ideas in greater depth. Distractions are present in all of us to some degree so it is important to recognize even though there are still miscommunications, you can learn to stretch your own perspective to embrace yet another view on the world around us.

One defining characteristic of hyperphantasia is its vibrant effects during childhood. Children are often labelled as " over-imaginative." I personally struggled throughout my childhood with the effects of hyperphantasia, in night terrors. My nightmares bordered on reality and would terrify me to the point of screaming constantly during the early hours. I can still vividly recall from the ages of three and four some of the dreams that caused me the most fear. It was not until my parents intervened that I was able to start controlling my imagination with scriptural thoughts, songs, and quoting verses. I would often get lost in daydreams and reading books because they brought a more favourable form of reality in my eyes. This affected my ability to complete tasks in school and housework. My imagination was competing with the reality laid out before me each day. However, with the negative aspects of hyperphantasia, some positives manifested themselves through my self-expression in explaining ideas and planning out artwork. Ideas were easy for me to explain because I could see them within my mind's eye. Art came to me easily with the fact that before I had even sketched or looked for references I had the imagery before my mind. My mind was constantly flitting between ideas and visualizing the results of combining and processing these ideas.

Identifying one’s level of sight has been made more accessible by modern research. The easiest test that anyone can do in the comfort of their own home is known as “picturing the apple”. The test subject is asked to envision an apple and describe lighting, the texture of the apple, and the colour. Depending on the test subjects' ability to describe what he sees, the ability of their mind’s eye can be theoretically measured. Another way of gauging the level of sight is the memory of the person. How do they remember places such as a childhood bedroom or how do they remember people such as their friends and family? Another way of judging the level of sight is how they envision reading. Can they picture a character by filling out and envisioning the details of the setting described on the pages? If one desires to approach the matter more officially, they can take part in a study known as The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire or VVIQ for short. Originally designed for research purposes, the study has become an "eye-opening" source for studies on mindsight and mental damage. These are all very useful methods for identifying the level of mind’s eye capabilities, and studies continue to bring out more ways to increase public awareness of mental sight.

Each level of sight is so important for bringing different perspectives together that we would not see if we were all the same. I, for one, am very thankful for the diversity that God has even planted in the way that our minds think and sort through information. Whether one has aphantasia, hyperphantasia, or any other level of mental sight, all are useful in the sight of God!

Sources:

Cossins, Daniel. "How People with Extreme Imagination Are Helping Explain Consciousness." New Scientist. 05 June 2019. Web.

Mm618. "An Update on 'extreme Imagination' – Aphantasia / Hyperphantasia." The Eyes Mind. 08 June 1970. Web.

Desir, Monique. "Hyperphantasia or Aphantasia: How Much Does Your Mind's Eye See?" 15 Apr. 2020. Web. 18 Sept. 2020.

Child, Shell. "Hyperphantasia! The Joys of an Overactive Imagination." Shell Child – Author. 28 Apr. 2016. Web. 18 Sept. 2020.

Maddox, Lucy. "Aphantasia: What It's like to Live with No Mind's Eye." BBC Science Focus Magazine. 08 Apr. 2020. Web. 18 Sept. 2020.

MacKisack, Matthew. "Artists with Aphantasia: Extended Imagining?" The Junkyard. The Junkyard, 17 Apr. 2019. Web. 18 Sept. 2020.

Clemens, Anna. "When the Mind's Eye Is Blind." 01 Aug. 2018. Web. 18 Sept. 2020.

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