Extreme Imagination in Mind, Brain and Culture

Imagination, the capacity to detach ourselves from the here and now, to recollect the past, anticipate the future and enter the worlds of art and science, is a key human capacity. For most of us the ability to visualise is a conspicuous component of imagination, but the vividness of visual imagery turns out to vary greatly between individuals. In previous work we have described individuals with lifelong lack of a 'mind's eye' - or 'aphantasia' - which affects around 2% of the population; conversely, some individuals have exceptionally vivid imagery, or 'hyperphantasia'. During the life of our AHRC-funded project 'The eye's mind - a study of the neural basis of visual imagination and of its role in culture', which ran from 1.1.15 - 31.5.16, world-wide publicity surrounding the description of aphantasia led to over 10,000 spontaneous contacts from individuals with 'extreme imagination', including a substantial number of aphantasic artists, writers and architects. Many of our contacts rejoiced that we had named and were investigating a central but elusive characteristic of their inner lives. This project responds to their enthusiasm and strongly expressed desire for more extensive information, and will be developed in collaboration with those who have contacted us.

Our project aims to help individuals whose imagery lies at the extreme of the vividness spectrum to interact and build supportive communities. It will publicise and celebrate creative work produced by individuals at these extremes, and enable researchers working on aspects of imagery to communicate recent discoveries about the experience, psychological function and neural basis of imagery in visual and other domains. It will provide an opportunity to explore the relevance of extreme imagery to education, therapy and creative endeavour. Finally it will provide a springboard for future work on topics considered important by those in these communities.

To realise these aims, we will work with people with aphantasia and hyperphantasia who have contacted us to design, for the first time ever, a major conference, intended as an opportunity for people with 'extreme imagination' to build a community and exchange experiences and ideas with imagery researchers. A touring exhibition and illustrated catalogue (Phantasia: art and science) will celebrate the creative work of individuals with extreme imagery, outline current understanding of how the brain enables imagery, and reflect on the complex relationship between imagery and imagination. There will be educational and cultural events at each of the exhibition venues in Norwich, Exeter and Glasgow, the centres involved in the Eye's Mind project. The project will be overseen by the original Eye's Mind team, and material from the conference, exhibition and local events will be made widely available through our website http://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/research/neuroscience/theeyesmind/.

The remarkable response to date to the Eye's Mind project, with over 10,000 email contacts, has demonstrated that individuals with aphantasia and hyperphantasia are delighted that a distinctive feature of their experience has been recognised, named and investigated. Most of our participants have expressed a wish to learn more about the nature and basis of their experience and about imagery in general; many have specifically expressed interest in a conference. This project will satisfy this appetite and disseminate knowledge of these extreme forms of imagery experience more widely. It will enable people with aphantasia and hyperphantasia to build communities, and begin to explore the implications of these imagery extremes in practical contexts, especially in education and therapy. More generally, it will contribute to the public appreciation of the diversity of our inner lives, of the many routes to creativity, and of a fascinating area of interdisciplinary research.

The primary beneficiaries of this research will be individuals with aphantasia and hyperphantasia whose imagery experience lies at the extremes of the vividness spectrum. 10,000 such individuals have already been in touch with us: their responses overwhelmingly indicate relief and delight that a distinctive but poorly understood feature of their experience has been recognised, named and investigated. Our conference will enable a substantial group of such individuals to meet, share experiences and interact with imagery researchers. Through this project, we will help our delegates, and individuals with extreme imagery generally, to build a supportive and informative community. Publicity surrounding the conference, including advance information and subsequent podcasts on our website, will disseminate knowledge of extreme imagery beyond our current contacts and participants. The associated exhibition will reveal that aphantasia is no bar to creativity, and celebrate the creative achievements of individuals whose experience lies at each extreme of the vividness spectrum.

We have been contacted by numerous practitioners, working as teachers, lecturers and therapists, who have become aware of the impact of extreme imagery on their pupils, students and clients. This project will raise awareness of aphantasia and hyperphantasia among such practitioners, with eventual benefits to educational and therapeutic techniques.

There is wide interest among the general public in the diversity of human experience, the origins of creativity and the neural basis of imagination, all of which are major themes of our conference, exhibition and associated events. The project will entertain, interest and educate this wider audience.

Finally, while this project is not primarily directed at an academic audience, researchers in the humanities (literary criticism, art history, philosophy, theology), the sciences (psychology, cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology) and educational theory have signalled interest in our work and will benefit from the maintenance and development of our data base and website which will support the primary, public-facing, objectives of this project.