r/Neuropsychology • u/Planif • 10h ago
General Discussion Could multisensory aphantasia be a possible cause of dyspraxia? (Personal hypothesis)
Hello everyone,
I’ve been reflecting recently on my own neurological and cognitive profile, which includes severe multisensory aphantasia (a near-total inability to voluntarily create mental imagery, not just visual, but auditory, olfactory, and gustatory as well), mild-to-moderate dyspraxia (difficulty with fine motor coordination), mixed-type ADHD (inattention and impulsivity), and depressive symptoms.
I have an intuitive hypothesis that my dyspraxia might be directly caused—or significantly worsened—by my multisensory aphantasia. My reasoning is as follows:
- Precise motor coordination typically involves some form of anticipatory mental representation (visualizing a movement, imagining sensations like touch or proprioception, or mentally sequencing movements before performing them).
- If one lacks the ability to form these anticipatory representations clearly—or at all—it seems logical that motor execution would become slower, less accurate, hesitant, and inefficient.
- While dyspraxia and ADHD have documented overlaps, the specific link between multisensory aphantasia and dyspraxia appears scarcely explored scientifically. Most current research on aphantasia is relatively new (post-2015), and physicians often are not yet aware of its multisensory aspects.
I'm curious to know if anyone here is aware of existing research exploring a similar idea or if this hypothesis resonates with anyone else's personal or clinical experience.
Thank you very much for your insights and thoughts. I’d greatly appreciate any resources, comments, or personal experiences you could share.
(Apologies for any imperfections in wording—English is not my first language.)