What if your imagination didn’t come with pictures?

In this episode of Medicine, Mystery, Mayhem & Murder (M⁴), we explore aphantasia — a fascinating neurological condition where the mind’s eye just... doesn’t open.

Join us as we dive into what life is like without mental imagery — where people know what an apple looks like, but can’t see it in their heads.

Through real research and relatable stories, we’ll unravel how imagination works, what happens when it doesn’t, and why it might not be such a bad thing after all.

Is aphantasia a medical mystery, a scientific marvel, or simply another creative twist of the human brain?

From lab tests that measure how your pupils respond to imagined light, to people who describe “thinking in words instead of pictures,” this episode shines a bright (and picture-free) light on how our minds make meaning — even without the visuals.

Sources:

• • Dawes, A. J., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2020). Quantifying aphantasia through drawing: Perception and memory in the absence of imagery. Cortex, 135, 159–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.11.005
  • Dutta, N. (2022, March 8). What it’s like to be “mind blind”: Aphantasia, or mind blindness, refers to an inability to visualize imagery. TIME. https://time.com/6155443/aphantasia-mind-blind/
  • Kay, L., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2022). The pupillary light response as a physiological marker of mental imagery strength. eLife, 11, e72484. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72484
  • Milton, F., Zeman, A., & Pearson, J. (2021). A systematic review of aphantasia: Concept, measurement, neural basis, and theory development. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 720870. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720870
  • University of New South Wales Newsroom. (2025, January). Mind blindness decoded: People who can’t see with their mind’s eye still activate their visual cortex. https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/01/mind-blindness-decoded-people-who-cant-see-with-their-minds-eye-still-activate-their-visual-cortex
  • Wicken, M., Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2021). Visual imagery vividness and emotional reactivity: The role of mental imagery in emotion. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288(1953), 20210267. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0267
  • Zeman, A., Dewar, M., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Lives without imagery – Congenital aphantasia. Cortex, 73, 378–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.019