What is hyperphantasia?
Hyperphantasia (Hyper = over; Phantasia = power of imagination) is when a person has a vivid and powerful imagination. Seeing things with their mind’s eye is precise and detailed, as if they’re seeing it in reality. In other words, they’re capable of vivid imagery. Imagery means experiencing the sensory properties of things in their absence. So, hyperphantasia also extends beyond vision to other senses: touch, hearing, taste, and smell.
Hyperphantasia is rare, occurring in about 3% of the population.1Zeman, A. (2024). Aphantasia and hyperphantasia: exploring imagery vividness extremes. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Those with hyperphantasia tend to be very creative and choose creative professions.2Zeman, A., Milton, F., Della Sala, S., Dewar, M., Frayling, T., Gaddum, J., … & Winlove, C. (2020). Phantasia–the psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes. Cortex, 130, 426-440. Hyperphantasia is part of a broader spectrum:
| Aphantasia | No imagery |
| Hypophantasia | Weak imagery |
| Phantasia | Normal imagery |
| Hyperphantasia | Strong imagery |
What causes hyperphantasia?
Since aphantasia is associated with autism, which has a genetic basis, it is likely that hyperphantasia is also genetic. Research has shown that people with hyperphantasia have strong connectivity between the brain’s prefrontal and visual cortex.3Milton, F., Fulford, J., Dance, C., Gaddum, J., Heuerman-Williamson, B., Jones, K., … & Zeman, A. (2021). Behavioral and neural signatures of visual imagery vividness extremes: Aphantasia versus hyperphantasia. Cerebral cortex communications, 2(2), tgab035. Since neural networks can be strengthened and weakened with practice, improving one’s ability to imagine vividly may be possible with practice.
About the test
This test consists of 10 items on a 2-point Yes/No scale. You won’t have to do a lot of imagining. You’ll only be asked to imagine one object and go from there. This test isn’t meant to be a diagnosis. It’s for educational purposes only and gives you an idea of how strong your visual imagery is. Your results are only shown to you and not stored in our database.