aphantasia

English

Etymology

From a- +‎ phantasia. From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, not) + φαντασία (phantasía, perception, impression, image, look, appearance), coined in a 2015 article.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˌeɪ.fænˈteɪ.zi.ə/, /ˌeɪ.fænˈteɪ.ʒə/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Hyphenation: a‧fan‧ta‧sia

Noun

aphantasia (uncountable)

  1. (psychology, pathology) A condition where one does not possess a functioning "mind's eye" and cannot visualize imagery.
    • 2020 July 15, Serena Puang, “Living With Aphantasia, the Inability to Make Mental Images”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:
      But aphantasia not only impacts people’s learning experiences; it also extends into their personal lives. Not being able to visualize means never picturing the faces of family or close friends and remembering images as abstract information.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Adam Zeman, Michaela Dewar, Sergio Della Sala (1 December 2015) “Lives without imagery – Congenital aphantasia”, in Cortex[1], volume 73, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 378–380