(A)phantasia and severely deficient autobiographical memory: Scientific and personal perspectives. (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Watkins, Nicholas W.
• Is Part Of: Cortex. Volume 105(2018)
• Page Start: 41
• Page End: 52
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: Episodic memory -- Severely deficient autobiographical memory -- Mental imagery -- Aphantasia -- Mind's eye; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; 612.825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0010-9452

Abstract

Abstract: I address two interlinked aspects of the diversity in our experiences of memory and the mind's eye. I summarise the long-appreciated role of imagery in mathematics and the physical sciences, and contrast it with the evidence that some scientists have had limited or zero imagery. I then recount the story of how I became aware of my own lack of mental imagery, and the accompanying deficit in my episodic memory, how I have sought scientific understanding of these conditions, and how they have affected my life.