Why can鈥檛 we conjure up smell and touch in our heads, but we can 鈥渓isten鈥� to music when nothing is coming through our ears?
Tony Durham
Brighton, UK
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I can imagine the smell of roses, ammonia or strawberry jam, and I can imagine how almost any object would feel to touch. I assumed that most other humans shared these abilities.
Psychologists have coined a term, aphantasia, for an inability to form visual images in the 鈥渕ind鈥檚 eye鈥�. I am unaware of any studies of the distribution of olfactory and haptic imagery in the population. But if no one has looked into this already, it is surely time to do so.
Quentin Macilray
Poole, Dorset, UK
I am sure perfumiers can indeed conjure up smells in their heads, and probably many other people can too. It is most likely a matter not just of aptitude, but also of practice. Try to conjure up your favourite smell. Go on, use your imagination. Freesias, anyone?
It is similar for touch, for anyone who exercises that sense professionally. Think of people who handle different textiles, such as wool and silk, or doctors who regularly palpate patients.
T. Spinney
Bristol, UK
I am sorry to have to disabuse John Howes of his belief that smell and touch can鈥檛 be conjured up in the mind. As your feature 鈥�Where鈥檚 your head at?鈥� (19 July, p 23) points out, our internal representations of the world differ. I, for one, can conjure up both smell and touch and can even imagine novel flavour combinations, something I often do when cooking.
Dave Wardell
Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK
I can 鈥渃onjure up鈥� tastes and smells. It is easiest with basic items like strawberry, steak, bacon, cheeses and a particular aftershave. For some tastes, I can鈥檛 separate the mouthfeel from the taste, so my favourite dark chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts can鈥檛 be 鈥渢asted鈥� without also being aware of the crunch.
I am not really able to hold a clear visual image of an object, let alone a scene, though, so maybe there is a trade-off.
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