Mind-wandering As Spontaneous Thought: a Dynamic Framework

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2016 Sep 23

PMID 27654862

Citations 392

Authors

Kalina Christoff

Zachary C Irving

Kieran C R Fox

R Nathan Spreng

Jessica R Andrews-Hanna

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Most research on mind-wandering has characterized it as a mental state with contents that are task unrelated or stimulus independent. However, the dynamics of mind-wandering - how mental states change over time - have remained largely neglected. Here, we introduce a dynamic framework for understanding mind-wandering and its relationship to the recruitment of large-scale brain networks. We propose that mind-wandering is best understood as a member of a family of spontaneous-thought phenomena that also includes creative thought and dreaming. This dynamic framework can shed new light on mental disorders that are marked by alterations in spontaneous thought, including depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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