Have you ever had a catchy tune you just can't get out of your head? Most of us can imagine sounds - music, voices, environmental noise - to varying degrees. But about 1% of people can't imagine sounds at all. This lack of auditory imagery is called anauralia. Claire Concannon meets a team of researchers investigating this newly described phenomenon, and speaks to a musician who experiences anauralia.

If I asked you to play your favourite song in your head, how clear would it be? Would you hear all the different instruments - the tone of them, the timbre? Or would it be just a basic melody, as if played from a distance?

Or is this something you just cannot do at all?

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Most people, over 99% of us, can imagine sounds in our head - environmental sounds, music and our own voices. Some of us imagine better than others. But there is a small proportion of people, estimated...