Complete Aphantasics Process Emotions Differently, But No Less Efficiently: Evidence of a Non-linear Relationship Between Visual Imagery and Alexithymia

Several studies have suggested a link between aphantasia (the absence or reduction of visual mental imagery) and alexithymia (the difficulty in identifying and describing one's feelings/emotions, associated with an externally oriented thinking style). However, results and interpretations differ from one study to another, and no consensus emerges from the current literature. To progress on this issue, we sought 1) to gather a large amount of data on aphantasia and alexithymia in the same participants from the most commonly used questionnaires, 2) to group participants into four categories of visual imagery ability as proposed by recent literature on aphantasia (no visual imagery, weak, typical, and excellent visual imagery), and 3) to use non-linear data analysis methods. We combined previously published (N = 1130) and new unpublished data (N = 348) from studies in which participants completed the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire - VVIQ (the higher the score the better the visual imagery ability) and the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale - TAS-20 (the higher the score the worse the emotional abilities). The total sample comprised 147 aphantasics (no imagery, VVIQ = 16), 141 hypophantasics (weak imagery, 16 < VVIQ < 33), 1115 typical imagers (32 < VVIQ < 75) and 75 hyperphantasics (high imagery, VVIQ > 74). Results showed that among participants able to do visual imagery (from hypo- to hyperphantasia), a negative linear relationship existed between mental imagery and alexithymia, i.e., the higher the VVIQ score, the lower the TAS-20 score. This relation was present for all subscales, but was particularly pronounced for the two TAS-20 scales assessing difficulty in identifying and describing feelings. Importantly, participants with a total inability to produce visual mental images (complete aphantasia, VVIQ = 16) broke this linear relationship and exhibited better emotional abilities than hypophantasics, at a level similar of that of typical imagers. Overall these results support the hypothesis of Kvamme et al. (2026) and suggest that when visual imagery is unavailable, alternative psychophysiological processes develop to process emotions, which are as effective as visual imagery. Our results also suggest that these processes do not develop when imagery is possible, even to a very limited extent, which further argue for fundamental differences between aphantasics and hypophantasics.