Dennis Buchanan

I go through periods of time where I regularly recall vivid dreams, and then periods of time when I either don't dream or don't recall it at all. I have, on a couple of occasions, been able to make a dream lucid, which is a trip, but it doesn't last long. Some of the most vivid dream states I get are the ones when I'm only just dozing off - these are the ones where I'll sometimes literally jump awake in response to something in the dream. (It's weird to me that the sleep threshold is like flipping a switch on mental imagery: Zero capacity to visualize while awake, but as I cross into sleep I suddenly [sometimes] get this vivid imagery.) But aside from that, my REM sleep dreams have visuals, semi-coherent storylines, etc. I don't have any reason to think they're much different from what other people describe. I consistently have 'disjunctive cognition' - where I know that a person in the dream is person x, even though they look nothing like person x. (I gather this isn't just an 'aphantasia' thing, but I wonder if there are different trends for it among aphantasics.)

Arthur, I find your directional issues interesting. I can't visualize, but I have exceptional spatial cognition. I've been operating on the assumption that it's my brain overcompensating for aphantasia. (Or perhaps it's about resource allocation? My brain doesn't generate visual imagery, and so processing capacity is freed up for other output?) This translates into a pretty good sense of direction, and a strong sense of where things are around me. I'm good with the layouts of buildings where I frequently go. If I witness a car accident, I'll usually recall the movement that I saw of the objects through space, but not necessarily describe much about the cars other than size. Your issues with drawing...100%. Can't draw to save my life.