Quantifying aphantasia through drawing: Those without visual imagery show deficits in object but not spatial memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Congenital aphantasia is a condition characterized by the inability to voluntarily visualize.
• Individuals with aphantasia offer a unique model for studying visual memory components.
• Understanding memory representations in aphantasia can elucidate object-spatial information interplay.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate memory representations in individuals with congenital aphantasia.
• To explore the dissociation between object and spatial information in memory.
• To validate aphantasia as a distinct variation in human imagery experience.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale online study involving 61 individuals with aphantasia and matched controls.
• Participants studied real-world scenes and recalled them through drawing from memory.
• Drawings were objectively scored for object and spatial details by numerous online scorers.

Main Results:

• Aphantasia participants recalled fewer objects and less color, relying more on verbal cues.
• Despite object recall deficits, aphantasic individuals demonstrated high spatial accuracy.
• Group differences were observed in recall, not during a matched perceptual task.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest separate memory systems for object and spatial information.
• Congenital aphantasia presents an object-specific memory impairment.
• The study validates aphantasia as a real variation in visual imagery experience.