Mind’s ear: Investigating the sounds in your head

‘Anauralia’ was proposed in 2021 by scientists from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland as the term to describe the little-known condition of a silent mind.

Now, as their investigations into the phenomenon continue, the University will host a global conference on sounds imagined in the mind, an event intended not just for scientists but also philosophers, musicians, poets and writers. ‘Mind’s Ear and Inner Voice’ will run from 14-16 April in Auckland.

“Scientists are fascinated by how the brain makes – or doesn’t make – imaginary sounds such as the inner voice,” says Professor Tony Lambert, of the School of Psychology. “But for writers, musicians and poets, it can be a key part of the creative process, so they have insights to share, too.”

Charles Dickens said he heard his characters’ voices; Alice Walker, too. Some readers conjure up characters’ voices in their minds.

For University of Auckland student Sang Hyun Kim, who has a silent mind, the idea that other people are hearing imaginary voices can seem “freaky”, and he’ll be fascinated to see what research turns up about auditory imagery.

The conference hopes to include personal accounts from individuals who experience anauralia and hyperauralia, the experience of extremely vivid auditory imagery.

Some people say they can recreate a symphony in great detail in their minds. Others report weaker auditory imagery, and a small number report none. In New Zealand, it’s estimated close to 1 percent of people experience anauralia, which is often accompanied by aphantasia, a lack of visual imagination. It seems there’s no downside to a silent mind; on the contrary, recent work suggests there may be an upside, involving improved attention.

The notion of a musician experiencing anauralia seems perplexing – how could you perform that role without being able to summon up sounds in your head?

“I don’t understand this either,” says Lambert. He surmises that the minds of such musicians may contain representations of music without the sensory qualities, akin to the difference between hearing music and music represented as a score.

“Overall, auditory imagery has attracted far less research attention than visual imagery,” says Lambert. “Our conference is unique in focusing on these issues from a strongly inter-disciplinary perspective.”

Lambert’s heightened interest in the area came after meeting Adam Zeman, the scientist who coined the term aphantasia, and after graduate students in the University’s PSYCH 721 Consciousness & Cognition paper noticed that scientific literature focused on visual imagery and largely ignored auditory imagery.

“This got me thinking about the absence of auditory imagery. Are there people who don’t imagine voices, music or other sounds? If so, how common is this? What are the psychological implications of experiencing a silent inner world?

“We now have good answers to the first two questions,” he says. “The last question is a much larger one, but I believe we have made strong progress.”

The research underway in the University’s Anauralia Lab, supported by a grant from the Marsden Fund, includes a neuroimaging study combining high-density EEG, functional magnetic resonance imaging and electromyography of activity in muscles used for speech.

The line-up of keynote speakers at the conference from around the world includes experts on hearing voices – auditory verbal hallucinations – and in a field called cognitive literary studies.

Additional information: Mind’s ear: Investigating the sounds in your head: Press release, Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland

Additional information: Anauralia: The enigma of the silent mind: Marsden Fund Research Update, March 2023