Episode 25: What Is Aphantasia? - features the Co-Founder of the Aphantasia Network, Tom Ebeyer, explaining how people are unable to form mental images.

Episode Summary:

This episode of the Simple Questions Podcast features a discussion between Dylan Carnahan and Tom Ebeyer, one of the original 21 cases identified by Neurologist Dr. Adam Zeman as having aphantasia. Tom's experiences led him to co-found the Aphantasia Network, which has a mission to improve the lives of people with aphantasia through advocacy, research, and support to unleash the power of image-free thinking.

Listen as Tom explains what we know about aphantasia, the spectrum of visual imagination, and what hyperphantasia means.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:00 - Face the Beast by The Whatnots
• 01:04 - Introducing Tom Ebeyer
• 03:22 - Pronunciation
• 04:44 - What is It?
• 06:49 - Thought Process
• 08:32 - Lack of Conversation
• 10:51 - Discovery
• 14:21 - Common or Uncommon?
• 16:12 - Hyperphantasia
• 18:53 - Lifelong Aphantasia
• 22:36 - Finding Out
• 29:17 - Impacts on Communication
• 35:45 - Cognitive Strategies to Remember
• 41:12 - Visual Imagination Spectrum
• 44:31 - Dreaming
• 47:14 - Research
• 49:55 - Aphantasia Network
• 51:05 - Closing Remarks
• 51:52 - Conclusion and Information

Resources:

• Aphantasia Network