Aphantasia

Today's episode is all about Aphantasia, also known as mind’s eye blindness. Those with Aphantasia can't visualize scenes, people, experiences, objects, and memories, and it can impact other senses as well. This lack of mental imagery was described as early as the late 1800s, yet it has remained a relatively unstudied phenomenon until 2015, when a study first introduced the term, Aphantasia. Since then, the amount of research about Aphantasia has continued to grow.

Our two guests today, who both experience Aphantasia, include Tom Ebeyer who is the founder of the Aphantasia Network, and Jana O’Connor, writer of the upcoming feature film, PICTURE IT, probably the first long-form film highlighting the experience of having Aphantasia!

The key moments in this episode are:

• 00:00:34 - Understanding Aphantasia
• 00:01:04 - Interview with Tommy Ebeyer
• 00:01:44 - Aphantasia Network and Community
• 00:04:55 - Impact of Aphantasia on Daily Life
• 00:13:51 - The Relationship between Imagination and Body Response
• 00:14:22 - Research on Aphantasia
• 00:16:37 - Personal Experiences and Unique Imagery Profile
• 00:21:00 - Resources for Aphantasia from Tom
• 00:24:42 - Jana discovering Aphantasia and Writing "Picture It"
• 00:28:27 - Impact on Daily Life
• 00:32:04 - Grief and Aphantasia
• 00:36:24 - Creative Professions and Aphantasia
• 00:39:11 - Aversion to Descriptive Passages
• 00:40:10 - Childhood Horror Experience
• 00:41:25 - Approach to Writing and Performing
• 00:43:21 - Visualization and Learning
• 00:45:14 - Challenges of Standardized Testing
• 00:49:44 - Representation of Aphantasia in Film and Writing
• 00:53:01 - Writing and Visual Imagination
• 00:53:40 - Evolution of Television and Writing
• 00:54:35 - Aphantasia Resources from Jana

DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Episode-011-Aphantasia-Transcript.pdf

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