Aphantasia: A life without mental images
Close your eyes and imagine walking along a sandy beach and
then gazing over the horizon as the Sun rises. How clear is the
image that springs to mind?
Most people can readily conjure images inside their head - known as
their mind's eye. But this year scientists have described a condition,
aphantasia, in which some people are unable to visualise mental
images.
Niel Kenmuir, from Lancaster, has always had a blind mind's eye. He
knew he was different even in childhood. "My stepfather, when I couldn't
sleep, told me to count sheep, and he explained what he meant, I tried
to do it and I couldn't," he says. "I couldn't see any sheep jumping over
fences, there was nothing to count."
Our memories are often tied up in images, think back to a wedding or
first day at school. As a result, Niel admits, some aspects of his memory
are "terrible", but he is very good at remembering facts. And, like others
with aphantasia, he struggles to recognise faces. Yet he does not see
aphantasia as a disability, but simply a different way of experiencing life.
Mind's eye blind
Ironically, Niel now works in a bookshop, although he largely sticks to
the non-fiction aisles. His condition begs the question what is going on
inside his picture-less mind. I asked him what happens when he tries to
picture his fiancee. "This is the hardest thing to describe, what happens
in my head when I think about things," he says. "When I think about my
fiancee there is no image, but I am definitely thinking about her, I know
today she has her hair up at the back, she's brunette. But I'm not
describing an image I am looking at, I'm remembering features about
her, that's the strangest thing and maybe that is a source of some
regret."
The response from his mates is a very sympathetic: "You're weird." But
while Niel is very relaxed about his inability to picture things, it is often a
cause of distress for others. One person who took part in a study into
aphantasia said he had started to feel "isolated" and "alone" after
discovering that other people could see images in their heads. Being
unable to reminisce about his mother years after her death led to him
being "extremely distraught".
The super-visualiser
At the other end of the spectrum is children's book illustrator, Lauren
Beard, whose work on the Fairytale Hairdresser series will be familiar to
many six-year-olds. Her career relies on the vivid images that leap into
her mind's eye when she reads text from her author. When I met her in
her box-room studio in Manchester, she was working on a dramatic
scene in the next book. The text describes a baby perilously climbing
onto a chandelier.
"Straightaway I can visualise this grand glass chandelier in some sort of
French kind of ballroom, and the little baby just swinging off it and really
heavy thick curtains," she says. "I think I have a strong imagination, so I
can create the world and then keep adding to it so it gets sort of bigger
and bigger in my mind and the characters too they sort of evolve. I
couldn't really imagine what it's like to not imagine, I think it must be a bit
of a shame really."
Not many people have mental imagery as vibrant as Lauren or as blank
as Niel. They are the two extremes of visualisation. Adam Zeman, a
professor of cognitive and behavioural neurology, wants to compare the
lives and experiences of people with aphantasia and its polar-opposite
hyperphantasia. His team, based at the University of Exeter, coined the
term aphantasia this year in a study in the journal Cortex.
Prof Zeman tells the BBC: "People who have contacted us say they are
really delighted that this has been recognised and has been given a
name, because they have been trying to explain to people for years that
there is this oddity that they find hard to convey to others." How we
imagine is clearly very subjective - one person's vivid scene could be
another's grainy picture. But Prof Zeman is certain that aphantasia is
real. People often report being able to dream in pictures, and there have
been reported cases of people losing the ability to think in images after a
brain injury.
He is adamant that aphantasia is "not a disorder" and says it may affect
up to one in 50 people. But he adds: "I think it makes quite an important
difference to their experience of life because many of us spend our lives
with imagery hovering somewhere in the mind's eye which we inspect
from time to time, it's a variability of human experience.”
幻境:没有想象的⽣活
闭上你的眼睛，想象你沿着沙滩漫步，然后看着地平线上的太阳升起。浮
现在脑海中的画⾯有多清晰?
⼤多数⼈都能很容易地在头脑中想象出⼀些图像，这就是所谓的“⼼眼”。
但今年，科学家们描述了⼀种名为幻视症的症状，即⼀些⼈⽆法想象⼼理
图像。
来⾃兰开斯特的尼埃尔·肯缪尔(Niel Kenmuir)⼀直都很盲⽬。他知道⾃⼰
从⼩就与众不同。“我的继⽗，当我睡不着的时候，让我去数⽺，他解释
了他的意思，我试着去做，但我做不到，”他说。“我没有看到任何⽺跳过
栅栏，没有什么可以数的。”
我们的记忆经常与图像联系在⼀起，回想起⼀场婚礼或上学的第⼀天。因
此，尼埃尔承认，他的某些记忆能⼒“很糟糕”，但他却⾮常擅⻓记忆事
实。和其他患有失忆症的⼈⼀样，他很难认出⼈脸。然⽽，他并不认为幻
视症是⼀种残疾，⽽只是⼀种体验⽣活的不同⽅式。
⼼灵之眼瞎了
具有讽刺意味的是，尼埃尔现在在⼀家书店⼯作，尽管他⼤部分时间坚持
阅读⾮⼩说类书籍。他的情况让⼈不禁要问，他那没有图像的头脑⾥到底
在想什么。我问他，当他试图想象他的未婚妻时，会发⽣什么。他说:“当
我思考事情的时候，我的脑⼦⾥会发⽣什么，这是最难描述的。”“当我想
到我的未婚妻时，没有任何形象，但我肯定会想到她，我知道她今天梳起
了后⾯的头发，她是深⾊头发。但我并不是在描述我所看到的⼀张照⽚，
我是在回忆她的特征，这是最奇怪的事情，也许这是⼀些遗憾的来源。”
他的同伴的反应是⾮常同情的:“你很奇怪。”但是，尽管尼埃尔对⾃⼰⽆法
描绘事物的能⼒感到很轻松，但这常常会给其他⼈带来痛苦。⼀名参加了
⼀项幻像症研究的⼈说，在发现其他⼈可以在他们的脑袋⾥看到图像后，
他开始感到“孤⽴”和“孤独”。在⺟亲去世多年后，他⽆法回忆起她，这导
致他“极度⼼烦意乱”。
super visualiser
另⼀个极端是⼉童书籍插画家劳伦·⽐尔德，她的《童话理发师》系列作
品对许多6岁的孩⼦来说都很熟悉。她的职业⽣涯依赖于当她阅读作者的
⽂字时跳⼊她脑海的⽣动图像。当我在她曼彻斯特的储藏室⼯作室⻅到她
时，她正在为下⼀本书的⼀个戏剧性场景⼯作。课⽂描述了⼀个婴⼉危险
地爬上枝形吊灯。
她说:“我⻢上就能想象出那种法式舞厅⾥的⼤玻璃吊灯，⼩婴⼉在上⾯晃
来晃去，还有⾮常厚的窗帘。”“我认为我有很强的想象⼒，所以我可以创
造世界，然后不断地增加它，在我的脑海中它变得越来越⼤，⻆⾊也在进
化。我真的⽆法想象不能想象是什么感觉，我想这真的有点遗憾。”
没有多少⼈的⼼理意象像劳伦那样充满活⼒，也没有多少⼈像尼埃尔那样
空⽩。它们是形象化的两个极端。认知和⾏为神经学教授亚当·泽曼
(Adam Zeman)想要⽐较幻相症患者和幻相症重度患者的⽣活和经历。他
在埃克塞特⼤学(University of Exeter)的团队今年在《⽪层》(Cortex)杂志
上的⼀项研究中创造了aphantasia这个词。
泽曼教授告诉BBC:“联系过我们的⼈说，他们真的很⾼兴这⼀发现被认可
了，并有了⼀个名字，因为他们多年来⼀直试图向⼈们解释，有⼀种他们
很难向其他⼈传达的奇怪现象。”我们如何想象显然是⾮常主观的——⼀
个⼈⽣动的场景可能是另⼀个⼈模糊的画⾯。但泽曼教授确信幻视是真实
存在的。据报道，⼈们经常能在梦⾥看到图⽚，也有报道说，有⼈在脑损
伤后失去了在图像中思考的能⼒。
他坚持认为幻视症“不是⼀种障碍”，并表示它可能会影响到每50⼈中就有
1⼈。但他补充说:“我认为这对他们的⽣活体验产⽣了相当重要的影响，
因为我们很多⼈在⼀⽣中都有意象在脑海中徘徊，我们会时不时地审视
它，这是⼈类体验的⼀种变化。”