18. The Movie in My Head

On visual imagery and the spectrum of imagination, featuring several genres, and a well known author.

I had no plans or ideas on what to write for this week, and quite frankly it didn’t worry me at all. I knew I would come up with something I wanted to discuss.

This week, that prompt was this.

Do you see a movie in your head when you read?

I do. Honestly, I talk to myself constantly. I think about a hundred different things at once. When I read, I can escape into the book so absolutely that it feels like I’m jolting back into reality whenever I’m done. I become wholly encompassed in the movie in my head. It is, in all essence, the perfect movie. I see everything as if I’m in the moment, experiencing it first hand with the characters.

It’s important to note that some of this is completely related to my OCD, especially the self talk. This made me consider how people might view things differently. I knew from TikTok that not everyone talks to themselves or sees these movies in their head, but I was curious as to how common these movies are as well as the background of it.

This article from Neuroscience News helped lay it out for me. There is a spectrum to imagination, 1% of people cannot mentally visualize things at all, and mental imagery can grow and decline throughout your life.

This spectrum is massive and relatively unknown. Synaesthesia is a phenomenon where people see shapes when they hear music, associate a day with a color, etc. Aphantasia is when someone does not have or has lower visual imagery. From an evolutionary stand point, processing information through the five senses as well as the mind helped make quicker decisions, thus being lifesaving. Creating imagery in the mind can help us increase the amount of information we have about a scenario. For example, if I hear a dog bark, I picture a dog. If I know the dog that is barking, I will have a mental image of that dog in my head and know it innately, therefore decreasing my processing time of a situation.

So, how does this happen? What makes someone have this ability or not have it?

It varies. Some are born with it, some develop it, and it can be lost. For example, stroke survivors. Depending on the brain damage, effects can range from losing inner speech but being able to speak out loud to only having inner speech and no outer voice.

Severe aphantsia is rare, sitting at less than 1% of people in the world. This is when someone has no mental imagery at all. Interestingly, there have been studies into developing imagination rather than being born with it. They suggest that this imagination and visual imagery develop in early childhood and actually declines in adulthood.

Overall, there is a huge spectrum of mental imagery. I might even believe that every single person uses their imagination in a different way, views the world uniquely through their lens. This spectrum can change throughout life - both forward and backward - but there has been little research into why and how.

Do specific characteristics increase imagination? How does trauma affect visual imagination? Are there specific things you do in childhood that increase visual imagery? How much does this impact our lives?

I’ve noticed that a lot of the questions I have about books relate back to psychology and the human brain. It makes me believe that reading may be more impactful to the human brain than I ever - dare I say we ever - believed.

A lot of my friends who read can picture these movies. I’m inclined to believe that reading helps increase visual imagery. I hope that reading as an adult will lower my loss of mental imagery. I’m quite curious to explore how this changes based on the person, their brain, their childhood, and their habits.

Quite frankly, I’m left with more questions and curiosity than answers. This is absolutely fascinating to me, and I am hopeful that this field will be studied more in the future. I think this helps show how reading is so impactful in childhood. As I mentioned in my past article, Literacy Rates in America, reading in childhood already has massive importance, so I wonder how this plays in as well.

All I know is what I see - the perfect movie in my head. It’s perfect to me. It’s what I’m used to. I’m positive that my OCD affects and increases this in some way. Those who don’t see a movie, all they know is what they see too. There are plenty of readers who don’t see these movies, and I want to make sure I note that there is nothing wrong with that. My intention here was simply to explore this fascinating part of our brains and how that can be tied to reading.

So, with that, I would love to hear your opinions and point of view to further discuss the absorbing subject of imagination and our brains.

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Got some good ones this week! Without further ado, let’s jump in.

1. How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perrin (Mystery): March 26, 2024

2. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang (Fantasy): March 26, 2024

3. There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib (Nonfiction): March 26, 2024

4. The Angel of Indian Lake (The Indian Lake Trilogy #3) by Stephen Graham Jones (Horror): March 26, 2024

Books I’ve compiled from B&N Top 100, the NYT Bestsellers List, and Amazon Bestsellers in no particular order. I’ve decided to simply add the books I haven’t before, since I’ve caught up to the new additions. If you’re curious, last week’s post can be found here.

1. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair (Fantasy)

2. Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner (Thriller)

3. Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff (Fantasy)

   1. Note: This cover is stunning! I’d love to read this series.

4. Until August by Gabriel García Márquez (Fiction)

This week we have Jay Kristoff as our author of the week!

via jaykristoff.com

I particularly like Jay Kristoff and Brandon Sanderson because they’re male fantasy and sci-fi authors. I read somewhere that guys do like fantasy books but don’t talk about it online for fear of being seen as sexualizing women in the wrong way. I love that there are some amazing male fantasy authors because I think that it helps boys and men see that reading fantasy can be for everyone. I have many of his books on my TBR!

First of all, I already kind of love him because his website is so sarcastic. Jay is #1 New York Times Bestselling author and has numerous awards. He has written a several series, including The Nevernight Chronicle, The Illuminae Files, The Lotus War, Lifel1k3, The Aurora Cycle, and Empire of the Vampires. Out of all of these, I have seen the most raving reviews for Nevernight and Empire of the Vampires. I have both of these on my TBR and can’t wait to read them!

He lives in Australia and is incredibly sarcastic. Jay cranks out so many books so kudos to you! You can find out more on his website or Instagram.

Just a reminder to submit any books you think others will love on the R&R page or to my email: thesundayreads@gmail.com!

That’s all for today. Much love.

Izzy