Distinguishing how from why the mind wanders: A process–occurrence framework for self-generated mental activity.

doi:10.1037/A0030010

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Distinguishing how from why the mind wanders: A process–occurrence framework for self-generated mental activity.

Journal Article•DOI•

Distinguishing how from why the mind wanders: A process–occurrence framework for self-generated mental activity.

Jonathan Smallwood¹•Institutions (1)

Max Planck Society¹

01 May 2013-Psychological Bulletin (American Psychological Association)-Vol. 139, Iss: 3, pp 519-535

TL;DR: It is suggested that identifying the moment that self-generated mental events begin is a necessary next step in moving toward a testable account of why the mind has evolved to neglect the present in favor of ruminations on the past or imaginary musings of what may yet come to pass.

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Abstract: Cognition can unfold with little regard to the events taking place in the environment, and such self-generated mental activity poses a specific set of challenges for its scientific analysis in both cognitive science and neuroscience. One problem is that the spontaneous onset of self-generated mental activity makes it hard to distinguish the events that control the occurrence of the experience from those processes that ensure the continuity of an internal train of thought once initiated. This review demonstrates that a distinction between process and occurrence (a) provides theoretical clarity that has been absent from current discussions of self-generated mental activity, (b) affords conceptual leverage on seemingly disparate results associating the state with both domain-general processes and task error, and (c) draws attention to important questions for understanding unconstrained thought in contexts such as psychopathology and education. It is suggested that identifying the moment that self-generated mental events begin is a necessary next step in moving toward a testable account of why the mind has evolved to neglect the present in favor of ruminations on the past or imaginary musings of what may yet come to pass.

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Journal Article•DOI•

The default network and self-generated thought: component processes, dynamic control, and clinical relevance

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Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna¹, Jonathan Smallwood², R. Nathan Spreng³•Institutions (3)

University of Colorado Boulder¹, University of York², Cornell University³

01 May 2014-Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

TL;DR: Evidence is presented that self‐generated thought is a multifaceted construct whose component processes are supported by different subsystems within the network, and clinical implications of disruptions to the integrity of the network are discussed.

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Abstract: Though only a decade has elapsed since the default network (DN) was first defined as a large-scale brain system, recent years have brought great insight into the network's adaptive functions. A growing theme highlights the DN as playing a key role in internally directed or self-generated thought. Here, we synthesize recent findings from cognitive science, neuroscience, and clinical psychology to focus attention on two emerging topics as current and future directions surrounding the DN. First, we present evidence that self-generated thought is a multifaceted construct whose component processes are supported by different subsystems within the network. Second, we highlight the dynamic nature of the DN, emphasizing its interaction with executive control systems when regulating aspects of internal thought. We conclude by discussing clinical implications of disruptions to the integrity of the network, and consider disorders when thought content becomes polarized or network interactions become disrupted or imbalanced.

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1,471 citations

Cites background from "Distinguishing how from why the min..."

...One term that captures both their active nature and their relative independence from ongoing sensory input is self-generated thought.(2) These experiences can occur as part of a task if a decision must be made that depends on an internal representation to reconstruct or imagine a situation, understand a stimulus, or generate an answer to a question....
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...247) and the precise process by which the experience occurs.(2) The DN exhibits complex temporal interactions with other neural systems, including the anticorrelation between the DN and the dorsal attention network, as well as its cooperation with the FPCN in ensuring integrity in a self-generated train of thought....
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Journal Article•DOI•

The Science of Mind Wandering: Empirically Navigating the Stream of Consciousness

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Jonathan Smallwood¹, Jonathan W. Schooler²•Institutions (2)

University of York¹, University of California, Santa Barbara²

05 Jan 2015-Annual Review of Psychology

TL;DR: Examination of the information-processing demands of the mind-wandering state suggests that it involves perceptual decoupling to escape the constraints of the moment, its content arises from episodic and affective processes, and its regulation relies on executive control.

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Abstract: Conscious experience is fluid; it rarely remains on one topic for an extended period without deviation. Its dynamic nature is illustrated by the experience of mind wandering, in which attention switches from a current task to unrelated thoughts and feelings. Studies exploring the phenomenology of mind wandering highlight the importance of its content and relation to meta-cognition in determining its functional outcomes. Examination of the information-processing demands of the mind-wandering state suggests that it involves perceptual decoupling to escape the constraints of the moment, its content arises from episodic and affective processes, and its regulation relies on executive control. Mind wandering also involves a complex balance of costs and benefits: Its association with various kinds of error underlines its cost, whereas its relationship to creativity and future planning suggest its potential value. Although essential to the stream of consciousness, various strategies may minimize the downsides of mind wandering while maintaining its productive aspects.

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1,074 citations

Cites background from "Distinguishing how from why the min..."

...At present there is no consensus on the precise relationship between mind wandering and executive control, despite the identification of a clear link between them (McVay & Kane 2010, Smallwood 2010)....
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...The executive failure account (McVay & Kane 2010) does not explain the positive correlation between working memory capacity and task-unrelated self-generated thoughts in nondemanding conditions (Levinson et al. 2012, Rummel & Boywitt 2014), interpretations of causality with respect to mind…...
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...Similarly, the executive control hypothesis (Smallwood & Schooler 2006) does not explain why high working memory reduces mind wandering in demanding tasks (McVay & Kane 2009, 2010; Unsworth & McMillan 2013)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Mind-wandering as spontaneous thought: a dynamic framework

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Kalina Christoff¹, Zachary C. Irving², Kieran C. R. Fox¹, R. Nathan Spreng³, Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna⁴ - Show less +1 more•Institutions (4)

University of British Columbia¹, University of California, Berkeley², Cornell University³, University of Colorado Boulder⁴

01 Nov 2016-Nature Reviews Neuroscience

TL;DR: It is proposed that mind-wandering is best understood as a member of a family of spontaneous-thought phenomena that also includes creative thought and dreaming, and can shed new light on mental disorders that are marked by alterations in spontaneous thought, including depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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Abstract: Mind-wandering is often defined as task-unrelated or stimulus-unrelated thought. In this Review, Christoff and colleagues present a definition for mind-wandering that places more emphasis on the dynamic nature of this process. They also examine the brain networks underlying mind-wandering and its involvement in various brain disorders. Most research on mind-wandering has characterized it as a mental state with contents that are task unrelated or stimulus independent. However, the dynamics of mind-wandering — how mental states change over time — have remained largely neglected. Here, we introduce a dynamic framework for understanding mind-wandering and its relationship to the recruitment of large-scale brain networks. We propose that mind-wandering is best understood as a member of a family of spontaneous-thought phenomena that also includes creative thought and dreaming. This dynamic framework can shed new light on mental disorders that are marked by alterations in spontaneous thought, including depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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807 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Creative Cognition and Brain Network Dynamics

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Roger E. Beaty¹, Mathias Benedek², Paul J. Silvia¹, Daniel L. Schacter³•Institutions (3)

University of North Carolina at Greensboro¹, University of Graz², Harvard University³

01 Feb 2016-Trends in Cognitive Sciences

TL;DR: This research suggests that creative thought involves dynamic interactions of large-scale brain systems, with the most compelling finding being that the default and executive control networks tend to cooperate during creative cognition and artistic performance.

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626 citations

Cites background from "Distinguishing how from why the min..."

...Self-generated thoughts arise from internally focussed mental activity that is largely independent of external input [4]....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Brain network dynamics are hierarchically organized in time

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Diego Vidaurre¹, Stephen M. Smith¹, Mark W. Woolrich¹•Institutions (1)

University of Oxford¹

28 Nov 2017-Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

TL;DR: The important question of the temporal organization of large-scale brain networks is addressed, finding that the spontaneous transitions between networks of interacting brain areas are predictable and highly organized into a hierarchy of two distinct metastates.

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Abstract: The brain recruits neuronal populations in a temporally coordinated manner in task and at rest. However, the extent to which large-scale networks exhibit their own organized temporal dynamics is unclear. We use an approach designed to find repeating network patterns in whole-brain resting fMRI data, where networks are defined as graphs of interacting brain areas. We find that the transitions between networks are nonrandom, with certain networks more likely to occur after others. Further, this nonrandom sequencing is itself hierarchically organized, revealing two distinct sets of networks, or metastates, that the brain has a tendency to cycle within. One metastate is associated with sensory and motor regions, and the other involves areas related to higher order cognition. Moreover, we find that the proportion of time that a subject spends in each brain network and metastate is a consistent subject-specific measure, is heritable, and shows a significant relationship with cognitive traits.

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586 citations

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References

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Journal Article•DOI•

A default mode of brain function.

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Marcus E. Raichle¹, Ann Mary MacLeod¹, Abraham Z. Snyder¹, William J. Powers, Debra A. Gusnard¹, Gordon L. Shulman¹ - Show less +2 more•Institutions (1)

Washington University in St. Louis¹

16 Jan 2001-Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

TL;DR: A baseline state of the normal adult human brain in terms of the brain oxygen extraction fraction or OEF is identified, suggesting the existence of an organized, baseline default mode of brain function that is suspended during specific goal-directed behaviors.

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Abstract: A baseline or control state is fundamental to the understanding of most complex systems. Defining a baseline state in the human brain, arguably our most complex system, poses a particular challenge. Many suspect that left unconstrained, its activity will vary unpredictably. Despite this prediction we identify a baseline state of the normal adult human brain in terms of the brain oxygen extraction fraction or OEF. The OEF is defined as the ratio of oxygen used by the brain to oxygen delivered by flowing blood and is remarkably uniform in the awake but resting state (e.g., lying quietly with eyes closed). Local deviations in the OEF represent the physiological basis of signals of changes in neuronal activity obtained with functional MRI during a wide variety of human behaviors. We used quantitative metabolic and circulatory measurements from positron-emission tomography to obtain the OEF regionally throughout the brain. Areas of activation were conspicuous by their absence. All significant deviations from the mean hemisphere OEF were increases, signifying deactivations, and resided almost exclusively in the visual system. Defining the baseline state of an area in this manner attaches meaning to a group of areas that consistently exhibit decreases from this baseline, during a wide variety of goal-directed behaviors monitored with positron-emission tomography and functional MRI. These decreases suggest the existence of an organized, baseline default mode of brain function that is suspended during specific goal-directed behaviors.

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10,708 citations

"Distinguishing how from why the min..." refers background in this paper

...…involve activity in the midline structures of the default mode network, for example, the mPFC and the posterior cingulate (Mason et al., 2007; Raichle et al., 2001), as well as in structures in the lateral PFC and dorsal ACC (Christoff, Gordon, Smallwood, Smith, & Schooler, 2009; Stawarczyk,…...
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...…fMRI, mind wandering, daydreaming, self-generated thought, perceptual decoupling Understanding cognition that is loosely related to current environmental input has become an important question in the fields of both psychology and neuroscience (Raichle et al., 2001; Smallwood & Schooler, 2006)....
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Book Chapter•DOI•

Chapter 11 Working memory

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Mark D'Esposito¹•Institutions (1)

Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute¹

01 Jan 2008-Handbook of Clinical Neurology

TL;DR: This chapter demonstrates the functional importance of dopamine to working memory function in several ways and demonstrates that a network of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, is critical for the active maintenance of internal representations.

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Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the modern notion of short-term memory, called working memory. Working memory refers to the temporary maintenance of information that was just experienced or just retrieved from long-term memory but no longer exists in the external environment. These internal representations are short-lived, but can be maintained for longer periods of time through active rehearsal strategies, and can be subjected to various operations that manipulate the information in such a way that makes it useful for goal-directed behavior. Working memory is a system that is critically important in cognition and seems necessary in the course of performing many other cognitive functions, such as reasoning, language comprehension, planning, and spatial processing. This chapter demonstrates the functional importance of dopamine to working memory function in several ways. Elucidation of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying human working memory is an important focus of cognitive neuroscience and neurology for much of the past decade. One conclusion that arises from research is that working memory, a faculty that enables temporary storage and manipulation of information in the service of behavioral goals, can be viewed as neither a unitary, nor a dedicated system. Data from numerous neuropsychological and neurophysiological studies in animals and humans demonstrates that a network of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, is critical for the active maintenance of internal representations.

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10,081 citations

"Distinguishing how from why the min..." refers background in this paper

...The current concerns hypothesis assumes that mental life is drawn to the most salient experiences, and so, whenever there is a dearth of salient external events, self-generated thought will form the focus of the mental experience of the individual....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Functional connectivity in the motor cortex of resting human brain using echo-planar MRI.

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Bharat B. Biswal¹, F Z Yetkin¹, Victor M. Haughton¹, James S. Hyde¹•Institutions (1)

Medical College of Wisconsin¹

01 Oct 1995-Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

TL;DR: It is concluded that correlation of low frequency fluctuations, which may arise from fluctuations in blood oxygenation or flow, is a manifestation of functional connectivity of the brain.

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Abstract: An MRI time course of 512 echo-planar images (EPI) in resting human brain obtained every 250 ms reveals fluctuations in signal intensity in each pixel that have a physiologic origin. Regions of the sensorimotor cortex that were activated secondary to hand movement were identified using functional MRI methodology (FMRI). Time courses of low frequency (< 0.1 Hz) fluctuations in resting brain were observed to have a high degree of temporal correlation (P < 10(-3)) within these regions and also with time courses in several other regions that can be associated with motor function. It is concluded that correlation of low frequency fluctuations, which may arise from fluctuations in blood oxygenation or flow, is a manifestation of functional connectivity of the brain.

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8,766 citations

"Distinguishing how from why the min..." refers background in this paper

...By contrast, resting-state analysis records brain activity while participants perform no task in order to understand the functional connectivity of spatially separate brain regions (Biswal et al., 1995)....
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...The next section of this review considers how empirical difficulties in our ability to measure self-generated mental activity have limited our capacity to distinguish between these basic elements of the mind-wandering state....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity observed with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

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Michael D. Fox¹, Marcus E. Raichle¹•Institutions (1)

Washington University in St. Louis¹

01 Sep 2007-Nature Reviews Neuroscience

TL;DR: Recent studies examining spontaneous fluctuations in the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging as a potentially important and revealing manifestation of spontaneous neuronal activity are reviewed.

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Abstract: The majority of functional neuroscience studies have focused on the brain's response to a task or stimulus. However, the brain is very active even in the absence of explicit input or output. In this Article we review recent studies examining spontaneous fluctuations in the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging as a potentially important and revealing manifestation of spontaneous neuronal activity. Although several challenges remain, these studies have provided insight into the intrinsic functional architecture of the brain, variability in behaviour and potential physiological correlates of neurological and psychiatric disease.

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6,135 citations

"Distinguishing how from why the min..." refers background in this paper

...…anticorrelated with elements thought to be involved in the generation of self-referential or episodic thought (e.g., the medial PFC [mPFC]; Fox & Raichle, 2007; Spreng, Stevens, 4 The fact that the decoupling hypothesis is the only theory covered in this article concerned with ensuring…...
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...In this later view, error is linked to self-generated information because sustaining detailed internal thought requires that perceptual input be neglected....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Correspondence of the brain's functional architecture during activation and rest.

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Stephen M. Smith¹, Peter T. Fox², Karla L. Miller¹, David C. Glahn², P. Mickle Fox², Clare E. Mackay¹, Nicola Filippini¹, Kate E. Watkins¹, Roberto Toro³, Angela R. Laird², Christian F. Beckmann¹, Christian F. Beckmann⁴ - Show less +8 more•Institutions (4)

University of Oxford¹, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio², Pasteur Institute³, Imperial College London⁴

04 Aug 2009-Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

TL;DR: It is concluded that the full repertoire of functional networks utilized by the brain in action is continuously and dynamically “active” even when at “rest.”

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Abstract: Neural connections, providing the substrate for functional networks, exist whether or not they are functionally active at any given moment. However, it is not known to what extent brain regions are continuously interacting when the brain is “at rest.” In this work, we identify the major explicit activation networks by carrying out an image-based activation network analysis of thousands of separate activation maps derived from the BrainMap database of functional imaging studies, involving nearly 30,000 human subjects. Independently, we extract the major covarying networks in the resting brain, as imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging in 36 subjects at rest. The sets of major brain networks, and their decompositions into subnetworks, show close correspondence between the independent analyses of resting and activation brain dynamics. We conclude that the full repertoire of functional networks utilized by the brain in action is continuously and dynamically “active” even when at “rest.”

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4,768 citations

"Distinguishing how from why the min..." refers background in this paper

...More generally, evidence from neuroscience indicates that all of the known task-related systems can exhibit neural activation in lieu of an external stimulus (S. M. Smith et al., 2009)....
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...For example, one formulation proposes that current concerns provide the impetus to engage in mind wandering and that these experiences are supported by domaingeneral processes, a Control Concerns hypothesis (Smallwood & Schooler, 2006, p. 953)....
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