Memory deficits in aphantasics are not restricted to autobiographical memory – Perspectives from the Dual Coding Approach
Open accessAbstract
Scene Construction Theory suggests similar neural mechanisms for visual imagery and autobiographical memory, supporting the seeming scientific consensus that a loss of visual imagery affects autobiographical memory. Based on the Dual Coding Theory and the Reverse Hierarchy Model, we also assumed influences of visual imagery on recent visual memory and even verbal memory, although little evidence has been provided so far. Thus, in a sample of 67 congenital aphantasics (= persons without mental imagery) and 32 demographically matched controls, it was investigated whether deficits in visual imagery are associated with deficits in visual as well as verbal short-term and long-term memory. The memory tasks were theoretically selected based on task difficulty, retrieval condition, and subcategories of stimuli, as previous null findings were attributed to insensitive tasks that were solvable by aphantasics by means of non-visual alternative strategies. Significant group differences were found in all memory components, with aphantasics performing worse than non-aphantasics. Therefore, evidence was obtained for the influence of visual imagery on all memory components beyond autobiographical memory.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
On standard experimental measures of memory, people with aphantasia perform normally or show at most mild to moderate impairment.
“On a range of standard experimental measures of memory (short- and long-term, verbal and visual), people with aphantasia perform normally or show, at most, mild to moderate impairment”
From Aphantasia and hyperphantasia: exploring imagery vividness extremes (2024) · cites this paper as [52]
Cites
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/bf03193146 · Cited by 65,971 · see citing works
Addis, D. R., Wong, A. T., & Schacter, D. L. (2007) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.016 · Cited by 1,949 · see citing works
The future of memory: remembering, imagining, and the brain
Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., Hassabis, D., Martin, V. C., Spreng, R. N., & Szpunar, K. K. (2012) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.001 · Cited by 1,398 · see citing works
Deconstructing episodic memory with construction
Hassabis, D., & Maguire, E. A. (2007) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.05.001 · Cited by 1,229 · see citing works
D’Argembeau, A., & Van der Linden, M. (2006) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2005.09.001 · Cited by 490 · see citing works
The construction system of the brain
Hassabis, D., & Maguire, E. A. (2009) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0296 · Cited by 483 · see citing works
The hippocampus: a manifesto for change
Maguire, E. A., & Mullally, S. L. (2013) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/a0033650 · Cited by 393 · see citing works
The blind mind: No sensory visual imagery in aphantasia
Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2018) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.012 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia
Dawes, A. J., Keogh, R., Andrillon, T., & Pearson, J. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65705-7 · Cited by 322 · see citing works
Zeman, A. Z. J., Della Sala, S., Torrens, L. A., Gountouna, V.-E., McGonigle, D. J., & Logie, R. H. (2010) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.024 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Visual mental imagery in congenital prosopagnosia
Grüter, T., Grüter, M., Bell, V., & Carbon, C.-C. (2009) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2009.02.021 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Aphantasia and hyperphantasia: exploring imagery vividness extremes
Zeman, A. (2024) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.02.007 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Takahashi, J., Saito, G., Omura, K., Yasunaga, D., Sugimura, S., Sakamoto, S., Horikawa, T., & Gyoba, J. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1174873 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
- Authors
- Monzel, M., Vetterlein, A., & Reuter, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Monzel, Merlin
- Venue
- Journal of Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-10-31
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 444-461
- ISSN
- 1748-6645 (ISSN-L)
- 1748-6653
- OpenAlex
- W3209573942
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 4.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuropsychology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- aphantasia, mental imagery, visual imagery, autobiographical memory, visual memory, verbal memory, short-term memory, long-term memory, dual coding theory, memory impairment
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Imagination, Memory Disorders, Mental Recall, Visual Perception, Memory, Episodic
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
