Abstract
The tendency for the mind to wander to concerns other than the task in hand is a fundamental feature of human cognition, yet the consequence of variations in its experiential content for psychological functioning are not well understood. Here, we adopted a multivariate pattern analysis approach, simultaneously decomposing experience sampling data with neural functional connectivity data, revealing dimensions that simultaneously describe individual variation in self-reported experience and default mode network connectivity. We identified dimensions corresponding to traits of positive, habitual thoughts and spontaneous task-unrelated thoughts. These dimensions were uniquely related to aspects of cognition, such as executive control and the ability to generate information in a creative fashion, and independently distinguished well-being measures. These data provide the most convincing evidence to date for an ontological view of the mind-wandering state as encompassing a broad range of different experiences and that this heterogeneity underlies its complex relationship to psychological functioning.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 56-71 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Psychological Science |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 13 Nov 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2018 |
Bibliographical note
This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for detailsKeywords
- content regulation
- default mode network
- mind wandering
- ontology of spontaneous thought
- open materials
- Behavior Rating Scale
- Multivariate Analysis
- Humans
- Brain/physiology
- Male
- Rest/physiology
- Young Adult
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Thinking/physiology
- Adolescent
- Brain Mapping
- Adult
- Female
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Executive Function/physiology
- Attention/physiology
