The Mental Imagery Resistance
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About The MIR

The Mental Imagery Resistance (MIR) was founded in 2025 by mental imagery advocate and campaigner, Hayley de Ronde, as a result of her personal experience with aphantasia and  undefined imagery. The MIR was born out of a deep conviction that the mind comprises of more than just the five known forms of mental imagery—that imagination, mental imagery, and sensory experience deserve recognition beyond limited materialist explanations.
The MIR seeks to build a community of like-minded individuals dedicated to advocating for research into the senses reported by those with aphantasia—sensations and ways of knowing that exist outside the current scientific framework. The old map of the mind is outdated, it’s time to discard it and chart a new one, one that respects the full spectrum of human perception.
The MIR | Dysikonesia, Aphantasia and a Sophisma

Advocacy for Research

The MIR is dedicated to advancing the discourse on the absence of a unifying language between mental perception and neurodiversity. Through independent research, we seek to inspire the academic community to reconsider the existing boundaries of mental imagery.
Our advocacy highlights the limitations of the current approach and calls for a more nuanced approach to understanding cognitive diversity:
Locating Unifying Language: Multiple Intelligences, Mental Sensory Perception, and Mental Imagery (2025) — A critical examination of the gaps in the evolving definition of aphantasia, advocating for a more precise and inclusive language framework.
View on ResearchGate
The study of aphantasia reminds us how easily invisible differences can escape detection.

Professor Adam Zeman

An Emerging Framework 

In December 2024, building on the groundbreaking work of neuroscientist Adam Zeman, we introduced a new way to understand mental imagery, identifying fifteen distinct types that reflect the complexity of how people visualise internally—expanded to twenty in February 2025. 

These types fall on a vividness spectrum, ranging from aphantasia (the absence of mental imagery) to hyperphantasia (extremely vivid imagery). This framework reveals over a billion possible combinations, highlighting the vast diversity of mental image experiences across individuals.

Our work goes beyond categorisation, highlighting the importance of recognising and valuing neurodiversity. Each person’s unique mental imagery offers vital insights into mental processes, imagination, and perception.
Read More on the MIR Blog 
15 Types of Mental Iamgery

A Handbook for Imagination 

The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination brings together expert perspectives from anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, and the arts. It explores mental senses beyond the traditional five, including:
  • Musical Imagery
  • Temporal Imagery
  • Emotional Imagery
  • Dream Imagery
By examining these areas, the handbook provides a deeper understanding of how imagination influences human perception and experience.
The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
The MIR | Facts

Anonymouse Calling 

Ishtar’s Sh*thouse Poetry is a personal blog where raw, irreverent verse and philosophy collide. Written under the pseudonym Anonymouse Calling, Hayley de Ronde explores human nature with absurdity, brilliance, and contradiction. This is not a place for the tame—it’s a space for unfiltered, unapologetic thoughts that break the bounds of convention. It is where it all began, with a poem and an understanding there was a word to define this newly discovered neurodivergence.  
Notable posts on mental imagery include:
Share your Thoughts, Poems and Theories
Anonymouse Calling | Dysikonesia, Aphantasia and a Sophisma
Disclaimer: The content on this website is intended for informational and advocacy purposes only. It is not a substitute for scientific research, clinical advice, or professional guidance. The perspectives shared here aim to explore and discuss mental imagery experiences—including beyond those currently established—as part of an ongoing conversation within the community.