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Feel free to let your mind wander: brain highly active while daydreaming
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A new study shows that the brain is fully engaged when we daydream, tackling difficult, subconscious problems as our attentiveness to the task at hand fades. Contrary to the notion that daydreaming is associated with negative connotations (such as laziness), researchers from the University of British Columbia [UBC] have found “that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving – previously thought to go dormant when we daydream – are in fact highly active during these episodes.” [EurekAlert]
We spend a large chunk of our days in a state of semi-awareness with nearly one-third of our waking hours taken up by daydreaming. This could be due to the fact that most of our days are full of routines: eating schedules, driving routes, menial tasks at work. When faced with such routine tasks, our minds begin to wander and face more complicated problems that our brains are attempting to work out.
To study this scientifically, Kalina Christoff of UBC set subjects undergoing an MRI to the task of pressing a button on a keypad which corresponded to the number on the screen above them. Eventually, such mundane work leads to a wandering mind, and the researchers were able to gauge brain activity when daydreaming began.
They found two pieces of information, one expected and one not. They confirmed that the brain’s “default network--which is linked to easy, routine mental activity and includes the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), the posterior cingulate cortex and the temporoparietal junction” [EurekAlert] is activated during daydreaming. However, contrary to popular belief, they also found that the regions of the brain associated with complex problem solving, namely the lateral PFC and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, also become highly active when daydreaming is engaged.
What perhaps is most interesting is that “the less subjects were aware that their mind was wandering, the more both networks were activated.” [EurekAlert] This study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers an interesting insight to how hard the brain works when we least expect it to.
"When you daydream, you may not be achieving your immediate goal – say reading a book or paying attention in class – but your mind may be taking that time to address more important questions in your life, such as advancing your career or personal relationships," says Christoff. [EurekAlert]
Another point of interest is a recent study that showed those who doodle during meetings are more likely to remember the important parts of said meeting. Another score for the doodlers and daydreamers of the world.
More psychology news: Lithium in water may lower the risk of suicide * Nearly 1 in 10 young gamers addicted to video games * Brain slow to feel compassion * More
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In celebration of the approaching New Year, I present a list of my most popular science stories of 2009. Taken from the vast expanse of all fields of …
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