Shankar VedantamHost, Hidden Brain · Journalist, Writer, Science Correspondent

The People Who Cannot Picture an Apple

12 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this Hidden Brain segment, host Shankar Vedantam introduces aphantasia, a condition first named by neurologist Adam Zeman in 2015, where individuals cannot generate mental images despite knowing what objects look like. He explains that aphantasia is not a deficit; people with it function normally and include many professionals such as scientists, engineers, and novelists. Some researchers suggest they think in pure concepts rather than pictures, which may even be advantageous. Vedantam uses the example of imagining an apple to illustrate how we assume everyone experiences mental imagery similarly, and he urges listeners to recognize that others may perceive the world in fundamentally different ways. The clip concludes with a call to explore more mind science on Hidden Brain platforms.

Chapters

Close your eyes and picture an apple. You probably see a green or a red skin, maybe a stem or a leaf. Some people, though, see nothing at all. Neurologist Adam Zeman at the University of Exeter coined a term for this condition in 2015. He called it aphantasia. People with aphantasia know what an apple looks like, but they cannot summon a mental picture of one. Their mind's eye, in a literal sense, is dark. Zeman's research has revealed that this is not a deficit. People with aphantasia function normally. Many are scientists, engineers, novelists. Some have argued they think in pure concept rather than picture, and this can be an advantage. Many of us assume that everyone's mind works the way ours does. We assume everyone sees the same apple. Zeman's work is a reminder that the person sitting next to you might literally be experiencing the world in a way you cannot imagine. For more insights about the science of the mind, tune into Hidden Brain on Apple, Spotify, or hiddenbrain.org.