From mind wandering to involuntary retrieval: Age-related differences in spontaneous cognitive processes

Maillet, David; Schacter, Daniel L.

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.11.017

Cited by 135Cognitive Functions and MemoryMind wandering and attentionAging and Gerontology Research

From mind wandering to involuntary retrieval: Age-related differences in spontaneous cognitive processes

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Maillet, David, Schacter, Daniel L.·2016·Neuropsychologia

DOI 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.11.017PMC PMC4698179

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Abstract

The majority of studies that have investigated the effects of healthy aging on cognition have focused on age-related differences in voluntary and deliberately engaged cognitive processes. Yet many forms of cognition occur spontaneously, without any deliberate attempt at engaging them. In this article we review studies that have assessed age-related differences in four such types of spontaneous thought processes: mind-wandering, involuntary autobiographical memory, intrusive thoughts, and spontaneous prospective memory retrieval. These studies suggest that older adults exhibit a reduction in frequency of both mind-wandering and involuntary autobiographical memory, whereas findings regarding intrusive thoughts have been more mixed. Additionally, there is some preliminary evidence that spontaneous prospective memory retrieval may be relatively preserved in aging. We consider the roles of age-related differences in cognitive resources, motivation, current concerns and emotional regulation in accounting for these findings. We also consider age-related differences in the neural correlates of spontaneous cognitive processes.

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This pattern of results accords well with findings of age-related decline in spontaneous mind-wandering and subjective dream phenomenology.
“This is a pattern of results which accords well with findings of age-related decline in spontaneous mind-wandering32 and subjective dream phenomenology24, respectively.”
From A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia (2020) · cites this paper as [32]
Section 2.5 reports that laboratory studies generally find less mind-wandering with increasing age, supporting the age-related decline attributed to this source. Section 2.1 says the studies did not distinguish spontaneous from deliberate mind-wandering in older adults, so the source does not establish a decline specifically in spontaneous mind-wandering. The separate claim about dream phenomenology is attached to citation 24, not this source. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Authors: Maillet, D., & Schacter, D. L.
Affiliations: Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author: Maillet, David
ORCID: Maillet, David
Schacter, Daniel L.
Venue: Neuropsychologia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2016-01
Volume: 80
Pages: 142-156
ISSN: 0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.11.017
PMC: PMC4698179
OpenAlex: W2174256498
Cited by: 135
References: 144
Citations by year: 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 10
FWCI: 1.51
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: National Institute on Aging (AG08441)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Keywords: healthy aging, spontaneous cognition, mind wandering, involuntary autobiographical memories, intrusive thoughts, older adults, cognitive resources, motivation, emotion regulation, neural correlates
MeSH terms: Aging, Cognition, Humans, Individuality, Mental Recall, Thinking

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From mind wandering to involuntary retrieval: Age-related differences in spontaneous cognitive processes

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