Neuroscience & the wonder of the phantasia spectrum! Whether it’s personally or professionally, it plays a significant part in all our lives!

This month I want to explore how our nervous systems are the same ….. but different. From natures point of view we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. Differences are integral for survival and can enable humanity to thrive. Before we dive in - a quick reminder- the nervous system, including the brain, includes multiple, interconnected electrochemical networks. These networks manage our biology, our senses, emotions, behaviour, movements, memories all attempting to ensure our basic & complex needs are met, ultimately producing our individualised reality. A crucial component to managing such complexity is the role of ’phantasia’ more commonly recognised as ‘imagining’. In fact, imagine living without it!

Now, a common mistake we can all make about ’imagining’ is incorrectly assuming that everyone can visualise in their minds eye. I hadn’t really given this much thought until a good friend piqued my interest. I’ve collaborated closely with Sabrina Ahmed for years, both professionally and personally. She merges art and neuroscience in her burnout coaching business, and we've discussed how artistic expression helps explore unconscious internal experiences. She has hyperphantasia, where images and memories appear vividly like an IMAX movie. In contrast, I discovered I have hypophantasia - I see barely anything, just faint, colourless, fleeting images that require significant effort to visualize or express.

Try it yourself…strawberries anyone?

Imagine a bowl of strawberries (without looking at the picture above). Does an image come to mind ? How vibrant is the colour ? Can you actually visualise them in your hand and even sense their weight? Is it so vivid that you feel like you are in a movie ? Or can you not ‘picture’ anything at all? Or can you just see dull images? It turns out there is a Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, a simple but effective tool to determine if you have Aphantasia. Hypophantasia. Phantasia or Hyperphantasia.

But why do these differences matter?

Letting things marinate and embodied cognition

I use lots of metaphors;) Looking back over my life, my understanding comes from letting things marinate. I literally take information in and have to let it get absorbed in the body, likewise when I am trying to produce output, regardless of career, I tend to have to wait to sense it. The technical term is embodied cognition which makes perfect sense to me. I rely heavily on embodiment, how it feels, how it’s sensed in the body. I also hone in on concepts and themes. For example writing this piece I am sensing how I feel about it, as I go along. For me ‘seeing something’ in the minds eye is thinking of particular words, concepts or feelings connected to something, not the actual picture in mind.

There are many kinds of imagining beyond the visual system, such as taste, sound, touch or movement. Some people will be able to imagine (or not) the taste of off milk or feel the actual real pain they feel after doing 200 squats. Such imagining sense 'capability' can understandably be debilitating. I have wondered if my inability to visualise was acquired rather than genetic. This has meant I can’t be overwhelmed by traumatic visual flashbacks from my childhood experiences. But ironically the nervous system will find another way to express itself. To use a water metaphor, just like a water leak, if one route is blocked (i.e. visual route) it uses bodily flashbacks instead.

At school I struggled. I didn’t get things quickly, I understand now that I was marinating out of conscious awareness, embodying that learning! Books that contained incredible stories to ignite your minds visual world did nothing for me, if anything I found them boring and at times made me feel lost. Looking back the education system didn’t really play to my brains working strategy  at all, something many, many people can relate to. ‘Picture this’, ‘use your imagination’ or ‘what image appears?’ I had no idea visual imagination was genuinely available and so powerful for others.

I remember attending a course a few years back and it was very heavy on visualisation. The facilitator would say picture your favourite place and what you are doing there, is the sun shining etc etc? I could muster some very faint, colourless and fleeting images but everyone else would go into technicolour detail about their favourite beach or beauty spot, positively lifting their mood and excitement. I just dismissed it and thought it must be just me being ‘odd’. In fact I often would feel this because the world is very much built around standard ‘cognition’ and visual learning and imaging.

Ultimately humans are the same….but different. Our reality and how that reality is constructed is personalised with its own individualised electrochemical magic. Understanding and embracing that our thinking components, along with many other facets of the nervous system, are not all the same, contributes to cultivating  mentally and physically healthier organisations and societies. This in turn improves resilience, productivity and creativity.

Key takeaways

I have introduced the phantasia spectrum and other imaginary sensory networks. They are an integral component for navigating a complex, demanding and continually changing world. Key takeaways to keep in mind (whether that is visually or otherwise!):

1. Constantly refining and updating our own self awareness, to understand how to meet our needs, is an essential component to better health and wellbeing.

2. We are a mixture of nature and nurture.

3. Our differences are vital for us to survive and ultimately thrive.

4. Try to remember that assuming our brains all work the same way can backfire and work against us.

5. Dare to get curious with the reality of your own nervous system -it makes you, wonderfully YOU. Equally dare to get curious with family, friends & colleagues.

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Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash