Furthermore, SE believed that the visual imagery apparently induced by the ayahuasca was related to a psychologically difficult period in his childhood when his father had left, and that this childhood experience was possibly related to his aphantasia. Surprisingly, the case, SE, reported an improvement in their visual imagery following one particular instance of ayahuasca use in which vivid internal (i.e., with eyes closed) visual imagery of a personal emotional nature was experienced. This account is the first such report of the use of a psychedelic agent by someone with aphantasia. In a recent article in this journal, Dos Santos, Enyart, Carlos Bouso, Pares, and Hallak ( 2018) report a case of ayahuasca use by a man with aphantasia, a condition characterized by reduced, or in this case, absence of visual mental imagery ( Zeman, Dewar, & Della Sala, 2015).
In addition, further research with psychedelics should include self-report measures that can index aphantasia, such as the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, as well as behavioral tasks, such as those measuring binocular rivalry. It is proposed that the theoretical distinction between acquired and congenital aphantasia be further explored with regard to the use of psychedelics. In support of Dos Santos et al.’s (2018) favored psychological explanation for improvement and their suggestion that SE’s aphantasia was acquired rather than congenital, this letter reports on a case study of an individual with apparent congenital aphantasia who has experienced no visual imagery, despite reported having excessively smoked N,N-dimethyltryptamine. Surprisingly, the case, SE, reported an improvement in their visual imagery following one particular instance of ayahuasca use. (2018) report a case of ayahuasca use by a man with aphantasia.
In a recent article in this journal, Dos Santos et al.
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