Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
09:13
Testing Sensory and Multisensory Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 22, 2015
Autism and Aphantasia
Derek H Arnold1, Loren Bouyer1, Blake W Saurels1
1School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Consciousness and Cognition
|June 23, 2026
Summary
Aphantasia, the inability to form mental images, shows weak links to autism, especially for visual imagination. However, autistic individuals may experience reduced smell and taste imagery, potentially linked to non-verbal communication differences.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Aphantasia is defined as the inability to voluntarily imagine sensory experiences.
- It is increasingly understood as a multisensory condition, affecting imagination across various senses.
- Previous research suggested a strong link between Aphantasia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between multisensory Aphantasia and autism.
- To re-evaluate the strength of the Aphantasia-autism link, considering how autism is measured.
- To explore specific sensory modalities and non-verbal communication in this context.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 327 participants with a formal autism diagnosis.
- Compared imagined sensory experiences in the autistic group with a control group.
- Utilized questionnaires assessing visual, olfactory, gustatory, and other imagined sensations.
Main Results:
- Autistic participants generally reported less vivid imagined experiences.
- Visual Aphantasia was not more common in the autistic group.
- A higher proportion of autistic individuals reported inability to imagine smell and taste sensations.
Conclusions:
- The association between autism and multisensory Aphantasia appears weak, particularly for visual imagery.
- Difficulties in non-verbal communication, such as face processing, may be a shared characteristic.
- This shared characteristic could explain the observed weak association between multisensory Aphantasia and autism.
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