Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
Published on: August 26, 2011
Missing images: autobiographical memory in Aphantasia and blindness
Cornelia McCormick1,2, Sven Lange1,2
1Department of Old Age Psychiatry and Cognitive Disorders, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Frontiers in Cognition
|June 24, 2026
Summary
Mental scene imagery, not visual encoding, is key for vivid autobiographical memory (AM). Aphantasia impairs scene construction and AM reliving, while the congenitally blind may use other senses for imagery and memory.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Memory Research
Background:
- Vivid episodic autobiographical memory (AM) is strongly linked to mental visual imagery, particularly scene construction.
- Neural networks involving the hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and posterior neocortex underpin mental imagery and AM.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the neural basis of mental imagery and its role in AM.
- To contrast the impact of absent visual imagery (Aphantasia) versus absent visual perception (congenital blindness) on AM.
- To determine if mental scene imagery or visual encoding is more critical for AM.
Main Methods:
- Review of neuroanatomy related to mental imagery and AM.
- Comparative analysis of autobiographical memory in individuals with Congenital Aphantasia and congenital blindness.
- Synthesis of existing research on sensory substitution in memory recall.
Main Results:
- Damage to key brain regions (hippocampus, vmPFC, posterior neocortex) affects AM.
- Congenital Aphantasia is associated with impaired scene construction and reduced AM reliving.
- Congenitally blind individuals may utilize auditory and tactile information for scene imagery, supporting AM reliving.
Conclusions:
- Mental scene imagery, rather than visual encoding, is crucial for autobiographical memory.
- This finding has implications for understanding memory disorders and mental health.
- Protecting imaginative capacities is important for memory function.
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