Temporal changes in attentional resources consumed by mind-wandering that precede awareness: An ERP study

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Mind-wandering (MW) is a common cognitive state.
• Awareness of MW and its disruption by external stimuli are known.
• Attentional fluctuations can occur spontaneously before MW awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate changes in attentional resources during mind-wandering.
• To examine the neural correlates of MW awareness using event-related potentials (ERPs).

Main Methods:

• Participants performed a tone-synchrony task and self-reported MW.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically the P300 (P3) component, were analyzed.
• A state-space model was used to track changes in P3 amplitude over time before MW self-reports.

Main Results:

• P3 amplitude significantly increased from the third to the second tone preceding MW self-reports.
• This increase suggests a return of attentional resources to the primary task.
• No other consistent trends in P3 amplitude were observed.

Conclusions:

• Awareness of mind-wandering (MW) is preceded by a decrease in resources allocated to task-unrelated thoughts.
• A transitional state exists between MW and its self-report.
• The state immediately preceding self-caught MW awareness is not solely an MW state.