心盲症

心盲症（英語：Aphantasia），又稱幻像可視缺失症、想像障礙，^[1]是指無法進行視覺想像的狀態。^[2]受影響者無法在腦海中想像一幅視覺畫面。很多受影響者同時不能回想起任何氣味、聲音、觸感。其中一些更表示自己不能辨認人臉。^[3]

法蘭西斯·高爾頓於1880年首次描述這種現象^[4]，不過它在之後一直受到研究者冷遇。2015年，亞當·賽曼（Adam Zeman）等人就着此現象發表了一份研究，隨即引起關注^[5]。他們同時把此一狀態命名為「aphantasia」（心盲症）^[6]。有關心盲症的研究仍然很少^[7]^[8]。

「Aphantasia」由古希臘語前綴「a-」（ᾰ̓-，沒有）及單詞「phantasia」（φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ，想像）所組成^[9]。

歷史

法蘭西斯·高爾頓在1880年一項有關心像的社會統計調查中首度描述此一現象^[4]。他表示此一現象在其同事當中頗為常見^[10]。它在之後一直受到研究者冷遇。2005年，埃克塞特大學的教授亞當·賽曼找到MX這個受心盲症影響者；MX在接受一次小手術後，喪失在腦海中形成視覺想像的能力^[11]。他之後連同其他學者一起為MX進行個案研究，有關結果在2010年發表^[12]。在研究發表後，一些人便跟賽曼聯絡，對之表示自己一生內都無法進行任何視覺想像。賽曼等人在2015年發表了一篇論文，於當中把上述情況稱為「先天性心盲症」^[5]。此一論文令不少人對心盲症產生興趣^[6]。

2016年8月，Firefox的最初開發者之一布雷克·羅斯發表了一篇短文，於當中表示自己患有心盲症^[13]。這篇短文隨後在社交平台和各大新聞媒體上廣泛流傳^[14]^[15]。

評估

賽曼等人^[5]以視覺心像鮮明度量表（英語：Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire）（VVIQ）去量度21位自評受心盲症影響的人和志願參與者的心像質量。這份問卷邀請當事人想像一系列的圖像（比如某位親戚、太陽升起的情境、他們認識的商店），然後讓其以1至5分去評估自己的想像有多生動——1分代表「完全沒有形成圖像，你只知道自己在想着這個對象」，5分則代表「栩栩如生，如見真章」。若16道問題加起上來不過20分，即被視為受心盲症影響者^[16]。

研究

賽曼等人^[5]所研究的對象雖不能自主進行視覺想像，但他們在做夢等不隨意的情況下，仍能形成視覺圖像。

另一項研究^[17]認為，額葉參與了視覺皮層的感知表徵反饋聯繫活動；受心盲症影響者則可能在此一聯繫上出現缺陷，使得他們的視覺皮層不能夠被激活，最終無法產生視覺想像。

2020年的一項研究結論道，受心盲症影響者對於其他感覺的想像能力同樣低下，此外他們的自傳式記憶也較為不生動^[18]。

除了先天因素外，也有因腦部受損或心理原因而造成心盲症的例子^[19]^[20]。

參見

創造性想像

參考資料

^ aphantasia中文(繁體)翻譯. 劍橋詞典. [2021-04-23].
^ Larner, A. J. A Dictionary of Neurological Signs. Springer. 2016: 29–30 [2016-09-04]. ISBN 978-3319298214. （原始內容存檔於2016-12-24）（英語）.
^ Kendle, Alan. Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights. Dark River. 2017: 11,17.
^ ^4.0 ^4.1 Galton, Francis. Statistics of Mental Imagery. Mind. 1880-07-19, os–V (19): 301–318 [2016-04-26]. doi:10.1093/mind/os-V.19.301. （原始內容存檔於2016-04-16）.
^ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 Zeman, Adam; Dewar, Michaela; Della Sala, Sergio. Lives without imagery – Congenital aphantasia (PDF). Cortex. 2015-06-03, 73: 378–380 [2021-04-23]. ISSN 0010-9452. PMID 26115582. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.019. hdl:10871/17613. （原始內容存檔 (PDF)於2020-08-11）.
^ ^6.0 ^6.1 Gallagher, James. Aphantasia: A life without mental images. BBC News Online. 2015-08-26 [2015-08-26]. （原始內容存檔於2015-08-26）.
^ Zimmer, Carl. Picture This? Some Just Can't. The New York Times. 2015-06-22 [2015-06-24]. ISSN 0362-4331. （原始內容存檔於2015-06-23）.
^ Grinnell, Dustin. My mind's eye is blind – so what's going on in my brain?. New Scientist (2070). 2016-04-20 [92016-07-09]. （原始內容存檔於2016-09-18）.
^ Clemens, Anna. When the Mind's Eye is Blind. Scientific American. 2018-08-01 [2021-04-23]. （原始內容存檔於2020-06-19）.
^ "To my astonishment, I found that the great majority of the men of science to whom I first applied, protested that mental imagery was unknown to them, and they looked on me as fanciful and fantastic in supposing that the words 'mental imagery' really expressed what I believed everybody supposed them to mean. They had no more notion of its true nature than a colour-blind man who has not discerned his defect has of the nature of colour." (Galton, 1880)
^ You might not be able to imagine things, and not know it. The Independent. 2016-04-25 [2016-12-16]. （原始內容存檔於2016-12-20）.
^ Zeman, Adam Z. J.; Della Sala, Sergio; Torrens, Lorna A.; Gountouna, Viktoria-Eleni; McGonigle, David J.; Logie, Robert H. Loss of imagery phenomenology with intact visuo-spatial task performance: A case of 'blind imagination'. Neuropsychologia. 2010-01-01, 48 (1): 145–155 [2021-04-23]. PMID 19733188. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.024. （原始內容存檔於2021-03-10）.
^ Aphantasia: How It Feels To Be Blind In Your Mind | Facebook. www.facebook.com. [2021-04-23]. （原始內容存檔於2021-06-22）.
^ Cabral-Isabedra, Catherine. Mozilla Firefox Co-Creator Says He Can't Visualize Images: What You Need To Know About Aphantasia. Tech Times. 2016-04-27 [2019-06-25]. （原始內容存檔於2021-03-07）.
^ Clemens, Anna. When the Mind's Eye Is Blind. Scientific American. 2018-08-01 [2019-06-25]. （原始內容存檔於2020-06-19）.
^ Vividness of Visual Imagery Quiz. The Aphantasia Network. 2019-06-23 [2020-05-10]. （原始內容存檔於2021-04-23）.
^ Keogh, Rebecca; Pearson, Joel. The blind mind: No sensory visual imagery in aphantasia (PDF). Cortex. 2018, 105: 53–60 [2019-03-30]. PMID 29175093. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.012. （原始內容存檔 (PDF)於2019-03-16） –透過Elsevier Science Direct.
^ Dawes, Alexei J.; Keogh, Rebecca; Andrillon, Thomas; Pearson, Joel. A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia. Scientific Reports. 2020-06-22, 10 (1): 10022. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7308278  . PMID 32572039. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65705-7 （英語）.
^ de Vito, Stefania; Bartolomeo, Paolo. Refusing to imagine? On the possibility of psychogenic aphantasia. A commentary on Zeman et al. (2015). Cortex. 2016, 74: 334–335. PMID 26195151. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.013.
^ Zeman, Adam; Dewar, Michaela; Della Sala, Sergio. Reflections on aphantasia. Cortex. 2016, 74: 336–337. PMID 26383091. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.08.015. hdl:20.500.11820/b67449c9-1804-4a8f-95ee-c320928c7eeb. （原始內容存檔於2017-08-28）.

延伸閱讀

Kendle, Alan. Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights. Bennion Kearny Limited. 2017 [2021-04-23]. ISBN 978-1-911121-42-8. （原始內容存檔於2018-03-14）.
Faw, Bill (2009). "Conflicting Intuitions May Be Based on Differing Abilities: Evidence From Mental Imaging Research". Journal of Consciousness Studies. 16 (4): 45–68.

[1] tasia中文(繁體)翻譯. 劍橋詞典. [2021-04-23].

[2] Larner, A. J. A Dictionary of Neurological Signs. Springer. 2016: 29–30 [2016-09-04]. ISBN 978-3319298214. （原始內容存檔於2016-12-24）（英語）.

[3] Kendle, Alan. Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights. Dark River. 2017: 11,17.

[Galton_1880-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Galton, Francis. Statistics of Mental Imagery. Mind. 1880-07-19, os–V (19): 301–318 [2016-04-26]. doi:10.1093/mind/os-V.19.301. （原始內容存檔於2016-04-16）.

[Zeman_et_al_2015-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 Zeman, Adam; Dewar, Michaela; Della Sala, Sergio. Lives without imagery – Congenital aphantasia (PDF). Cortex. 2015-06-03, 73: 378–380 [2021-04-23]. ISSN 0010-9452. PMID 26115582. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.019. hdl:10871/17613. （原始內容存檔 (PDF)於2020-08-11）.

[Gallagher,_BBC_2015-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Gallagher, James. Aphantasia: A life without mental images. BBC News Online. 2015-08-26 [2015-08-26]. （原始內容存檔於2015-08-26）.

[Zimmer,_NYT_2015-7] Zimmer, Carl. Picture This? Some Just Can't. The New York Times. 2015-06-22 [2015-06-24]. ISSN 0362-4331. （原始內容存檔於2015-06-23）.

[Grinnell,_NewSci_2016-8] Grinnell, Dustin. My mind's eye is blind – so what's going on in my brain?. New Scientist (2070). 2016-04-20 [92016-07-09]. （原始內容存檔於2016-09-18）.

[9] Clemens, Anna. When the Mind's Eye is Blind. Scientific American. 2018-08-01 [2021-04-23]. （原始內容存檔於2020-06-19）.

[10] "To my astonishment, I found that the great majority of the men of science to whom I first applied, protested that mental imagery was unknown to them, and they looked on me as fanciful and fantastic in supposing that the words 'mental imagery' really expressed what I believed everybody supposed them to mean. They had no more notion of its true nature than a colour-blind man who has not discerned his defect has of the nature of colour." (Galton, 1880)

[11] You might not be able to imagine things, and not know it. The Independent. 2016-04-25 [2016-12-16]. （原始內容存檔於2016-12-20）.

[12] Zeman, Adam Z. J.; Della Sala, Sergio; Torrens, Lorna A.; Gountouna, Viktoria-Eleni; McGonigle, David J.; Logie, Robert H. Loss of imagery phenomenology with intact visuo-spatial task performance: A case of 'blind imagination'. Neuropsychologia. 2010-01-01, 48 (1): 145–155 [2021-04-23]. PMID 19733188. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.024. （原始內容存檔於2021-03-10）.

[13] Aphantasia: How It Feels To Be Blind In Your Mind | Facebook. www.facebook.com. [2021-04-23]. （原始內容存檔於2021-06-22）.

[techtimes-14] Cabral-Isabedra, Catherine. Mozilla Firefox Co-Creator Says He Can't Visualize Images: What You Need To Know About Aphantasia. Tech Times. 2016-04-27 [2019-06-25]. （原始內容存檔於2021-03-07）.

[blind-15] Clemens, Anna. When the Mind's Eye Is Blind. Scientific American. 2018-08-01 [2019-06-25]. （原始內容存檔於2020-06-19）.

[vviq_Info-16] Vividness of Visual Imagery Quiz. The Aphantasia Network. 2019-06-23 [2020-05-10]. （原始內容存檔於2021-04-23）.

[17] Keogh, Rebecca; Pearson, Joel. The blind mind: No sensory visual imagery in aphantasia (PDF). Cortex. 2018, 105: 53–60 [2019-03-30]. PMID 29175093. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.012. （原始內容存檔 (PDF)於2019-03-16） –透過Elsevier Science Direct.

[18] Dawes, Alexei J.; Keogh, Rebecca; Andrillon, Thomas; Pearson, Joel. A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia. Scientific Reports. 2020-06-22, 10 (1): 10022. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7308278  . PMID 32572039. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65705-7 （英語）.

[Refusing-19] Vito, Stefania; Bartolomeo, Paolo. Refusing to imagine? On the possibility of psychogenic aphantasia. A commentary on Zeman et al. (2015). Cortex. 2016, 74: 334–335. PMID 26195151. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.013.

[Reflections-20] Zeman, Adam; Dewar, Michaela; Della Sala, Sergio. Reflections on aphantasia. Cortex. 2016, 74: 336–337. PMID 26383091. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.08.015. hdl:20.500.11820/b67449c9-1804-4a8f-95ee-c320928c7eeb. （原始內容存檔於2017-08-28）.

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