<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some researchers in Australia are trying to get to the root of this problem. In a small study, published recently in the journal </span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945217303581"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cortex</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, researchers used a technique called “binocular rivalry” to test the existence of aphantasia. </span></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Participants—comprised of 15 self-reported aphantasiacs and 200 individuals without aphantasia—were given a pair of 3D glasses, with one lens showing a green circle with horizontal lines, and the other lens showing a red circle with vertical lines. </span><a href="https://www.livescience.com/61183-what-is-aphantasia.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rebecca Keogh</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, lead author of the study, explained: “When you show one image to one of your eyes and one image to the other eye, instead of seeing a mix of the two images, you see one or the other.” </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before putting the glasses on, participants were shown one of the images, and then asked to hold it in their mind’s eye for six seconds. Then, both of the images were shown to them through the glasses a total of 100 times.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the participants </span><a href="https://www.livescience.com/61183-what-is-aphantasia.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">without aphantasia</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, they were more likely to see the image that they pictured in their mind. Depending on how well they could imagine it, the numbers would vary. “People who are very good at imagining pictures would see the image that they imagined maybe 80 percent of the time,” said Keogh. “People with weaker imagery might only see it 60 percent of the time.” </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the aphantasiacs, however, there was no correlation, which Keogh theorized indicated that they could not produce a mental image at all.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The reason why some individuals are unable to picture things is unclear, but it may be because of differences in brain functioning. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When you try to imagine a picture, you are trying to recreate the same pattern of response in your brain as when you saw the image,” said </span><a href="https://www.livescience.com/61183-what-is-aphantasia.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keogh</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “We think that [people with aphantasia] are not able to create the same pattern response in their brains.” </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How does </span><a href="https://www.livescience.com/61183-what-is-aphantasia.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">aphantasia affect people</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">? Keogh says it does not seem to inhibit people’s success in life. However, it can make recognizing faces, special navigation and recalling memories more difficult. “When we try to remember things from our past, most of us will find that it’s like playing a movie in our mind, we can just relive that moment. For them, it’s more like a list of things that have occurred.” </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There may even be some benefits to aphantasia. It can protect individuals from experiencing too much visual imagery, such as in individuals experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the future, Keogh hopes there might be methods to improve the way brains of people with aphantasia function—either through brain training or </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2124346-people-with-no-minds-eye-may-help-us-boost-our-creativity/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">electrical stimulation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. But for now, more research needs to be done to better understand the condition. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do you think you may be one? Try taking this </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34039054"><span style="font-weight: 400;">abridged test</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and see how you score. </span></p>
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