Is it still visual? If yes, how does one without the ability to visualize in their heads, visualize during the REM state?
In: Biology
This is just an anecdote, but my last boyfriend had aphantasia and told me his dreams were like thoughts, with no visuals at all. Mind blowing.
In one study of 21 people with aphantasia, 17/21 reported that they had experienced images during dreams (study: https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/21561082/Sala_etal_C_2015_Lives_without_imagery.pdf). It’s not a large study, but it seems that most people with aphantasia do still have visual images during their dreams. For the ones that don’t get visual imagery, even during dreams, I’d imagine their dreams are similar to blind people. Blind people dream, they just don’t see anything during those dreams.
I don’t know if I have aphantasia, but I definitely don’t have a minds eye the same way other people do.
My dreams are mostly feelings or events. I don’t see people really,, but I instinctively know if they are present in the dream.
Similarly I know where I am, what is there, what is happening, even it it is not visual.
REM sleep doesn’t require visualization. People born blind experience REM sleep just fine after all.
As for how we dream/visualize, well I can’t speak for others but for me, I simply remember the experience the same way I do a previous day. I can’t “picture” it like replaying a movie and watching it but I can remember details like some of what was said, what generally happened, where things were relative to each other.
For example I know a red car was red, just like I can remember seeing a red car yesterday. The information is there it’s just not stored as images.
What I can’t understand is how people who DONT have aphantasia differentiate reality from fantasy if they are seeing both when they “imagine” things.
My alphantasia limits my memory to mostly the outline shape, with only small color detail that is more a hint than reality. Faces are hard for me in particular, and I rely more on an outline shape and gait to identify people.
I rarely recall dreams. But when I do the its mostly shapes and suggestions or hypothesis of color and such.
I think I have some vague images in my dream but it’s really just about how I feel and a story line.
The images I get are very rough blurry shapes with colours. I remember my dreams in great details though!
I probably don’t have proper aphantasia because I developed the ability to kind of “see” a little bit of shapes in my mid 20s but they are actually blurry and require me a lot of effort (and are followed by a headache).
I do feel colours though. I can’t really explain it but I feel colours rather than seeing them. If I want to see them, it’s the same as above, I can only do it a little bit and it’s hurting my head.
Fun facts, I have synesthesia so I feel colours with words and I also don’t have an inner monologue, my thoughts are abstract – unlike images though I can easily create a monologue (or music) if I want to, can even change the voice. I just don’t see the point so I usually don’t.
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