Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
13:51
Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis
Published on: November 9, 2011
Fragile recurrent processing in Aphantasia: Evidence from visual pattern completion
Corey Loo1, Bradley R Buchsbaum2
1Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Consciousness and Cognition
|July 23, 2026
Summary
Individuals with aphantasia, the inability to voluntarily visualize, show increased vulnerability to visual backward masking. This suggests recurrent processing in aphantasia is intact but susceptible to disruption.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Aphantasia is typically viewed as an imagery deficit.
- Recurrent neural circuits support both visual imagery and perception.
- The impact of aphantasia on visual processing, particularly feedback mechanisms, remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether individuals with aphantasia exhibit heightened susceptibility to backward masking in a visual pattern completion task.
- To determine if recurrent processing, crucial for pattern completion, is differentially affected in aphantasia.
Main Methods:
- 31 participants with aphantasia and 41 controls completed a visual task.
- Participants identified partially occluded objects presented at varying stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs).
- Objects were followed by either a noise mask or a blank screen to assess masking cost.
Main Results:
- Aphantasia participants demonstrated a significantly larger masking cost compared to controls, indicating greater vulnerability.
- This effect was particularly pronounced at the shortest SOA (25 ms), a condition highly dependent on recurrent processing.
- The increased masking cost in aphantasia was driven by better unmasked performance that was diminished by masking.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest that recurrent processing in aphantasia is preserved but more vulnerable to disruption by visual interference.
- This challenges the notion of aphantasia solely as an imagery deficit, highlighting its implications for perceptual processing.
- Further research is needed to fully elucidate the relationship between imagery, recurrent processing, and visual perception in aphantasia.
Keywords:
AphantasiaBackward maskingMental imageryPattern completionRecurrent processingVisual perceptionMore Related Videos
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