Scientists Discover Connection Between Lack of Visual Imagination and Long-Term Memory

Bonn researchers have discovered a link between autobiographical memory and aphantasia.
When people lack visual imagination, this is known as aphantasia. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) investigated how the lack of mental imagery affects long-term memory.

They were able to show that changes in two important brain regions, the hippocampus, and the occipital lobe, as well as their interaction, have an influence on the impaired recall of personal memories in aphantasia. The study results, which advance the understanding of autobiographical memory, have now been published online by the specialist journal eLife.