The wandering brain: Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of mind-wandering and related spontaneous thought processes

AbstractThe neural basis and cognitive functions of various spontaneous thought processes, particularly mind-wandering, are increasingly being investigated. Although strong links have been drawn between the occurrence of spontaneous thought processes and activation in brain regions comprising the default mode network (DMN), spontaneous thought also appears to recruit other, non-DMN regions just as consistently. Here we present the first quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of spontaneous thought and mind-wandering in order to address the question of their neural correlates. Examining 24 functional neuroimaging studies of spontaneous thought processes, we conducted a meta-analysis using activation likelihood estimation (ALE). A number of key DMN areas showed consistent recruitment across studies, including medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, medial temporal lobe, and bilateral inferior parietal lobule. Numerous non-DMN regions, however, were also consistently recruited, including rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, temporopolar cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, and lingual gyrus. These meta-analytic results indicate that DMN activation alone is insufficient to adequately capture the neural basis of spontaneous thought; frontoparietal control network areas, and other non-DMN regions, appear to be equally central. We conclude that further progress in the cognitive and clinical neuroscience of spontaneous thought will therefore require a re-balancing of our view of the contributions of various regions and networks throughout the brain, and beyond the DMN

Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: A review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations

Meditation is a family of mental practices that encompasses a wide array of techniques employing distinctive mental strategies. We systematically reviewed 78 functional neuroimaging (fMRI and PET) studies of meditation, and used activation likelihood estimation to meta-analyze 257 peak foci from 31 experiments involving 527 participants. We found reliably dissociable patterns of brain activation and deactivation for four common styles of meditation (focused attention, mantra recitation, open monitoring, and compassion/loving-kindness), and suggestive differences for three others (visualization, sense-withdrawal, and non-dual awareness practices). Overall, dissociable activation patterns are congruent with the psychological and behavioral aims of each practice. Some brain areas are recruited consistently across multiple techniques - including insula, pre/supplementary motor cortices, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and frontopolar cortex - but convergence is the exception rather than the rule. A preliminary effect-size meta-analysis found medium effects for both activations (d = .59) and deactivations (d = -.74), suggesting potential practical significance. Our meta-analysis supports the neurophysiological dissociability of meditation practices, but also raises many methodological concerns and suggests avenues for future research

Different modes of thought during the creative process

Creativity is most often defined as the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and useful. Consistent with this twofold definition, psychological theories have suggested that creativity involves a twofold process characterized by a generative (or associative) component that facilitates the production of novel ideas, and an evaluative (or analytic) component that enables the assessment of these ideas as to their usefulness. To investigate this, the present study employed a novel paradigm that was specifically designed to allow for separately examining the generative and evaluative components of the creative process. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify the contribution of particular brain regions to creative generation and evaluation. Participants were presented with short book descriptions and, using an fMRI-compatible drawing tablet, designed corresponding book cover illustrations while alternating between the generation and evaluation of ideas. Creative generation and evaluation were associated with recruitment of distinct neural circuits, with generation preferentially recruiting medial temporal lobe regions, and evaluation showing joint recruitment of executive and default network regions. These findings suggest that the medial temporal lobe may play an important role in the generation of novel ideas, and that creative evaluation may extend beyond deliberate and cognitive analytical processes supported by executive resources to include spontaneous, affective, and visceroceptive analytical processes. In summary, separating and alternating between generative and evaluative modes during a creative task helped to provide a better characterization of the contributions of creativity-related brain areas to the creative process, which had previously only been inferred indirectly. The results of this study suggest that creative thinking recruits a unique configuration of neural processes not typically used together in more traditional tasks.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat

Investigating the neural basis of spontaneous thought with fMRI and mindfulness meditation

One of the most intriguing yet least understood aspects of the human mind is its tendency to give rise to spontaneous, undirected mental processes – thoughts that occur and proceed without our deliberate effort or control. The present dissertation examined the neural basis of spontaneous thought by integrating first-person reports from individuals with extensive introspective training (i.e., mindfulness meditators) with third-person neural measures from fMRI experience sampling procedures. In Experiment 1, time courses of brain activation during self-caught spontaneous thought events revealed that the medial temporal lobe (MTL) was recruited first, suggesting it may be central to the initial generation of spontaneous thoughts. The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) showed recruitment next, suggesting it may be important for the subsequent affective elaboration of spontaneous thoughts. The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) showed recruitment last, suggesting it may contribute to further metacognitive evaluation and monitoring of spontaneous thoughts. In Experiment 2, spontaneous thought elaboration events (i.e., when a second thought followed an initial thought) showed increased MPFC activation and decreased MTL activation. Spontaneous thought elaboration may thus engage affective evaluation processes while suppressing associative generation processes. In Experiment 3, spontaneous thoughts reported during high MTL activity (as determined by real-time fMRI software) were associated with meaning-making content such as remembering, planning, and linking concepts. In contrast, spontaneous thoughts reported during low MTL activity were associated with present-centered content such as body sensations, emotions, awareness, and concentration. The level of MTL activation may thus reflect different qualities, but not necessarily different quantities, of spontaneous thought. First-person, introspective information about the timing, sequence, and content of spontaneous thoughts collected in the present experiments helps to refine current accounts of how brain regions consistently implicated in spontaneous thought specifically contribute to its component processes. The present dissertation reflects a step toward expanding the role of first-person, introspective reports in neuroscience in order to enhance our understanding of the full spectrum of human thought.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat

Meditation Experience Predicts Introspective Accuracy

The accuracy of subjective reports, especially those involving introspection of one’s own internal processes, remains unclear, and research has demonstrated large individual differences in introspective accuracy. It has been hypothesized that introspective accuracy may be heightened in persons who engage in meditation practices, due to the highly introspective nature of such practices. We undertook a preliminary exploration of this hypothesis, examining introspective accuracy in a cross-section of meditation practitioners (1–15,000 hrs experience). Introspective accuracy was assessed by comparing subjective reports of tactile sensitivity for each of 20 body regions during a ‘body-scanning’ meditation with averaged, objective measures of tactile sensitivity (mean size of body representation area in primary somatosensory cortex; two-point discrimination threshold) as reported in prior research. Expert meditators showed significantly better introspective accuracy than novices; overall meditation experience also significantly predicted individual introspective accuracy. These results suggest that long-term meditators provide more accurate introspective reports than novices

Dynamics of Neural Recruitment Surrounding the Spontaneous Arising of Thoughts in Experienced Mindfulness Practitioners

Thoughts arise spontaneously in our minds with remarkable frequency, but tracking the brain systems associated with the early inception of a thought has proved challenging. Here we addressed this issue by taking advantage of the heightened introspective ability of experienced mindfulness practitioners to observe the onset of their spontaneously arising thoughts.We found subtle differences in timing among the many regions typically recruited by spontaneous thought. In some of these regions, fMRI signal peaked prior to the spontaneous arising of a thought — most notably in the medial temporal lobe and inferior parietal lobule. In contrast, activation in the medial prefrontal, temporopolar, mid-insular, lateral prefrontal, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices peaked together with or immediately following the arising of spontaneous thought. We propose that brain regions that show antecedent recruitment may be preferentially involved in the initial inception of spontaneous thoughts, while those that show later recruitment may be preferentially involved in the subsequent elaboration and metacognitive processing of spontaneous thoughts. Our findings highlight the temporal dynamics of neural recruitment surrounding the emergence of spontaneous thoughts and may help account for some of spontaneous thought's peculiar qualities, including its wild diversity of content and its links to memory and attention

Relationship between group synchrony of movement and different features of the music.

<p>Values over the duration of the music set are plotted for intersubject phase synchronization and metrical centroid or speed of pulsations, metrical strength or clarity of pulsations, spectral irregularity or variability, sensory dissonance or roughness, and high-frequency spectral flux or liveliness.</p

Relationship between group synchrony of movement and song popularity.

<p>Play counts from music websites and applications for each song are plotted against their average intersubject phase synchronization values.</p

Musical Correlates of Group Synchrony in a Real-World Club Environment

Data from the dance club acquisition and the reliability test session<br