Aphantasia and the Other Senses of the Mind

The other night, very late, just before sleep, I was talking with my girlfriend and somehow mentioned that I have aphantasia. She didn’t remember what it was, so I explained it. The conversation changed when I told Bia that I cannot see my late grandmother’s face in my mind. She got sad immediately. Not in a dramatic way, just genuinely sad for me, because for her the face of someone she loves is something she can call up internally, almost as if it were still there. I can't do that. Or at least not as vividly as she describes her own mental image. Until then I had treated aphantasia as a curious fact about myself, not as something that might change the texture of memory, absence, and love. Not as something that might have shaped my way of thinking, my personality, or even some of my skills. Remembering without seeing If you have never heard of aphantasia, or of the "mind's eye," try the following exercise: Close your eyes and imagine your front door. Can you actually see it in your…