Just a comment. I am what I consider a complete Aphantasia.. No dreams with pictures (any more), no pictures with my visualization. I can reconstruct a memory and "remember" fine details without pictures. Its like my memory is looking at a picture I cannot see. So yes, I think there is some sort of data disaggregation process and what is stored is the ability to reconstruct something for the conscious mind to consider. Otherwise there must be a a closet full of VHS tapes.
Hi Jennifer, just noticed your reply and thank you for it. I think my concept of a Mind Processing Area (MPA) is the result of abstract or type thinking. I will try to define my MPA with an example. I know my car has a small dent on the drivers door. Since I have aphantasia, I don't have a picture to recall. But I can "think" about my drivers side door, in so doing, I create an abstract picture which contains all the details I can remember. The picture is not true, just an abstract thought. That thought is as detailed as my memory will allow. I put that thought in my MFA where I can "think" about it as if it were a real picture. The problem is that I could easily contaminate the thought, where a picture from memory SHOULD be true.