When the Brain Takes a Break: A Model-Based Analysis of Mind Wandering
Open accessAbstract
Mind wandering is an ubiquitous phenomenon in everyday life. In the cognitive neurosciences, mind wandering has been associated with several distinct neural processes, most notably increased activity in the default mode network (DMN), suppressed activity within the anti-correlated (task-positive) network (ACN), and changes in neuromodulation. By using an integrative multimodal approach combining machine-learning techniques with modeling of latent cognitive processes, we show that mind wandering in humans is characterized by inefficiencies in executive control (task-monitoring) processes. This failure is predicted by a single-trial signature of (co)activations in the DMN, ACN, and neuromodulation, and accompanied by a decreased rate of evidence accumulation and response thresholds in the cognitive model.
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In methamphetamine abusers, a specific deficit in inhibiting proponent motor responses during the stop signal task and cognitive inhibition in the Stroop task was observed.
“For example, a specific deficit in inhibiting proponent motor responses during the stop signal task (Mittner et al. 2014) as well as cognitive inhibition in the Stroop task (Lynn et al. 2014; Ganos et al. 2014) was observed in methamphetamine abusers.”
From Large-scale functional neural network correlates of response inhibition: an fMRI meta-analysis (2017) · cites this paper as Mittner et al. 2014
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- Authors
- Mittner, M., Boekel, W., Tucker, A. M., Turner, B. M., Heathcote, A., & Forstmann, B. U.
- Affiliations
- UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO)
- Stanford University (US)
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2014-12-03
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 49
- Pages
- 16286-16295
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC4252543
- OpenAlex
- W2059427866
- Cited by
- 228
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 8
- FWCI
- 10.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Bentham-Moxon Trust
- National Institutes of Health
- Australian Research Council (DP120102907, DP110100234)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (F32GM103288)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Keywords
- mind wandering, default mode network, task-positive network, executive function, task monitoring, neuromodulation, evidence accumulation, response threshold, cognitive models
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attention, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways, Pupil, Young Adult, Executive Function
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