There are many reasons our minds wander. Maybe we are feeling stressed, tired, or bored or perhaps it’s a consequence of ADHD. The scientific explanations for the wandering mind are expanding and deepening with results from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research that provides visual data of the measure brain activity in a particular neural network.
Eva Botkin-Kowacki, in a recent edition of News at Northeastern, reported on research by Aaron Kucyi, a neuroscientist at the University. Using fMRI to measure brain activity when the mind wanders, It turns out that many more parts of the brain are involved in this “dynamic and fundamental function of our psychology.”
When subjects were not focused on the assigned task of pushing or not pushing a button, depending on the image they were shown, expected brain activity occurred in areas called the “default mode network,” an area of the brain previously noted as “activated when someone’s thoughts were drifting away from their immediate surroundings and deactivated when they were focused.” Additional activity appeared in networks related to controlling or maintaining a train of thought, while systems associated with sensory input quieted. It seemed as though the default mode network was communicating with the network related to controlling a train a thought, while shutting off the external world.
The fMRI brain patterns were similar for ADHD diagnosed people. ADHD symptoms include difficulty concentrating and also hyperfocus under whatever might constitute favorable conditions for the particular person. The study’s co-author, John Gabrieli, added that the greater the mind-wandering for ADHD patients the more daily difficulties they experience.
Also mind-wandering is not good or bad per se. The upside is that ADHD often means having a broad focus and seeing patterns, making creativity more likely. That said, when performance suffers too much, this new research suggests which neural systems to target for ADHD interventions.
