I also cannot recollect visual things in mind eye. It is strange to explain but I am good with inventing things and imagining complex things but I cannot see anything in mind eye. It is not visual it is more as abstract "shape", shape is not good word as it is visual, in my case try to imagine shape more as intuition or feeling.
I do not know how to explain.
I was kind of annoyed by this finding that I started trying different ways to imagine objects. Few months ago interesting thing happen, I woke up really early and stayed up after 2am, when I got in bad, I was in state that I passed state of sleepy, so my mind was fully conscious, (state you can choose do you want to get up or not at any time), and then stream of images appeared from single point, that point grew and like accessing some optic cable hole, and it was vivid very vivid like reality. It lasted just a few 10 - 30 sec before I was knocked of and started sleeping.
It look like my left side of brain (logic) was so tired that handed over everything to right side (pictures colors) additionally leaving spectator (chartering voice) awake for little while. I am no medical person just interpreting subjective experience so do not take any of this as fact. I just remember that at at that point that I had feeling that Logical side of brain imposed some kind of dictatorship on imaginative side of brain, because of job or past experiences. That time logical brain was too tired after more than 20hrs of coding and thinking so it seems went away for a sleep fraction of time earlier than the imaginative side. :)
I recently learned a trick to fall asleep faster. The theory is that sometimes we have trouble falling asleep because we’re stuck in that “logical mind” mode, ie verbalizing thoughts in our head, thinking about concepts, etc.
The trick is to pick a word, something like “bed”, “sleepy”, etc. You then take each letter and try to think of as many things that start with that letter. The catch is that you should try visualizing the object as clearly as possible. You move on to the next letter once you run out of things for the current letter.
This is supposed to move your mind from the verbal, anxiety-ridden, future-minded mode to the pre-verbal, visual mode. That then slowly fades into hypnagogic imagery, which then leads to sleep and dreams.
I stumbled across a similar trick recently, which is to basically start thinking in dream-like imagery with dream-like logic, until your brain begins to adopt the pattern itself.
> and then stream of images appeared from single point, that point grew and like accessing some optic cable hole, and it was vivid very vivid like reality. It lasted just a few 10 - 30 sec before I was knocked of and started sleeping.
That would be hypnogogic hallucations[1]. Different from aphantasia[2]. People with aphantasia can typically experience hypnagogia just fine.
I was kind of annoyed by this finding that I started trying different ways to imagine objects. Few months ago interesting thing happen, I woke up really early and stayed up after 2am, when I got in bad, I was in state that I passed state of sleepy, so my mind was fully conscious, (state you can choose do you want to get up or not at any time), and then stream of images appeared from single point, that point grew and like accessing some optic cable hole, and it was vivid very vivid like reality. It lasted just a few 10 - 30 sec before I was knocked of and started sleeping.
It look like my left side of brain (logic) was so tired that handed over everything to right side (pictures colors) additionally leaving spectator (chartering voice) awake for little while. I am no medical person just interpreting subjective experience so do not take any of this as fact. I just remember that at at that point that I had feeling that Logical side of brain imposed some kind of dictatorship on imaginative side of brain, because of job or past experiences. That time logical brain was too tired after more than 20hrs of coding and thinking so it seems went away for a sleep fraction of time earlier than the imaginative side. :)