Aphantasia, 5

After a few weeks, I played the Vibes in public for the first time—a duet with my father. Two people, four hands, and four mallets. It actually sounded better than I had initially expected. I wish I knew how my father even knew to teach me that skill—where did he learn? He didn’t know, either. Back to your original question. Your brain may not visualize but that does not mean there is something wrong with you. Relative new research on ”Aphantasia” reported that approximately 95 percent of individuals are able to picture things in their mind’s eye—at least at some level. That means that the brains of about 5 percent of individuals do not. That’s what is difficult about making presentations and writing articles and so on, as there are always outliers—brains that do things differently. Before you automatically relegate yourself to the 5 percent, I suggest you do some experimenting with picturing objects or faces in your mind’s eye. You may be surprised that you can learn to visualize at some level—if not, no worries. There are other things your brain can do . . . enjoy those things.