A new study by researchers Derek and Loren, both visual aphantasics, reveals that the imagined experiences of people who cannot voluntarily visualize differ vastly between individuals and often correspond to their dream content. The research, published July 10, 2026, recruited 84 visual aphantasics and 121 non-aphantasics to compare their waking imagined sensations with dream reports.
Study Design and Findings
Participants completed standard measures of imagined experiences and new measures designed to check consistency, including a measure of everyday imagined sensations. The results showed that aphantasics tend to report similar types of imagined experiences while dreaming and awake. For example, Derek, who cannot imagine touch, taste, or smell while awake, also lacks these sensations in dreams. Loren, who has a silent mind awake (no imagined sounds), also has silent dreams without audio or visual content, but experiences lucid dreams with texture and movement.
However, not all aphantasics showed correspondence. Some reliably reported no overlap between their waking and dreaming sensations. Among non-aphantasics, 37% reported never experiencing smell in dreams and 33% reported never experiencing touch in dreams.
Neural Implications
The findings suggest two possible explanations for aphantasia. One is that aphantasics' brains can generate imagined sensations, but some neural process necessary for conscious awareness of those sensations fails while awake—meaning they might visualize without knowing it. Alternatively, some aphantasics may have brains that simply cannot create certain types of imagined sensations regardless of state.
“Our research suggests another possibility. Some aphantasics might have brains that can generate a full range of different types of dreamt sensations. But other aphantasics might have brains that simply can’t create some types of imagined sensation, regardless of whether they’re awake or dreaming,” the authors note.
Broader Implications
The study highlights that individual differences in imagined sensations are common. People who often dream of smells are more likely to imagine the smell of cooking when thinking about dinner. Understanding these differences could shed light on how brains create conscious experience—a major scientific mystery.
Practically, the findings raise questions about psychological treatments that rely on visualization, as it is unclear if aphantasics can benefit. Similarly, teachers often encourage children to visualize, but the proportion who cannot do so is unknown. “One day soon, we hope to be able to explain why some people can, and others cannot, imagine smelling their dinner before they turn on the stove,” the researchers conclude.
