Aphantasia

Not to be confused with Aphasia, the inability to formulate language.

Aphantasia (/ˌeɪfænˈteɪʒə/ ⓘ AY-fan-TAY-zhə, /ˌæfænˈteɪʒə/ AF-an-TAY-zhə) is the inability to voluntarily visualize mental images.

The phenomenon was first described by Francis Galton in 1880, but it has remained relatively unstudied. Interest in the phenomenon was renewed after the publication of a study in 2015 by a team led by the neurologist Adam Zeman of the University of Exeter. Zeman's team coined the term aphantasia, derived from the ancient Greek word phantasia (φαντασία), which means 'appearance/image', and the prefix a- (ἀ-), which means 'without'. People with aphantasia are called aphantasics, or less commonly aphants or aphantasiacs.

Aphantasia can be considered the opposite of hyperphantasia, the condition of having extremely vivid mental imagery.

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