Age differences in visual and multisensory imagery: Notes on distributions of aphantasia and hyperphantasia in...

This study aimed to examine age-related differences in the vividness of visual and multisensory imagery in relation to the distribution of aphantasia and hyperphantasia. Individuals aged 20-79 (2558 Japanese people) completed the vividness of visual imagery questionnaire (VVIQ) and the questionnaire upon mental imagery (QMI) in an online setting. We compared these scores between age groups and calculated the prevalence ratios of aphantasia (VVIQ 16-23) and hyperphantasia (VVIQ 75-80) in each age group. The results showed that older adults (especially those in their 60s and 70s) had significantly higher VVIQ and QMI scores than did younger adults. Focusing on multisensory imagery, we extracted subtypes of aphantasia, such as visual and multisensory aphatansia, in terms of multisensory imagery in most age groups. Moreover, we calculated the prevalence of aphantasia and hyperphantasia in each age group and found that they were significantly more frequent among the 20s and 30s, and less frequent among the 60s and 70s in the aphantasia range, but not in the hyperphantasia range. This study shows that age differences should be considered in the vividness of visual and multisensory imagery related to the distribution of aphantasia.