New Books Network Adam Zeman, "The Shape of Things Unseen: A New Science of Imagination" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Apr 8, 2026
Adam Zeman, neurologist and author studying imagery and consciousness, explores how imagination is our brain’s default. He discusses perception as generative, aphantasia and hyperphantasia, mind-wandering, sleep and creativity, and how predictive brain processes create hallucinations, dreams, and shared mental worlds.
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Patient Case Sparked Study Of The Mind's Eye
- Adam Zeman's professional interest in imagery began after encountering a patient who abruptly lost the ability to visualise following a neurological event.
- That case, plus later contacts from lifelong non-imagers, motivated his research into aphantasia.
Aphantasia Is A Recognized Imagery Variant
- Aphantasia denotes lifelong absence of a 'mind's eye', identified after patients contacted Zeman following a published stroke case.
- Roughly 4% lack visual imagery; the term 'aphantasia' (from phantasia) and 'hyperphantasia' describe the spectrum.
Perception Is A Controlled Hallucination
- Perception is generative and prediction-driven: the brain uses stored knowledge to interpret and predict sensory input, producing 'inside-out' experience.
- Optical illusions, pareidolia and reversible figures illustrate how the brain constructs perception beyond raw input.
