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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

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Real-time fMRI-triggered experience sampling: A proof-of-concept study.

Tiara Bounyarith1, David Braun1, Aaron Kucyi1

  • 1Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Imaging Neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)
|June 11, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Researchers developed real-time fMRI-triggered experience sampling (rt-fMRI-ES) to precisely study spontaneous thoughts. This new method linked brain activity in the posteromedial cortex (PMC) to reduced external attention, validating its effectiveness.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Spontaneous thoughts are a major part of mental life but are difficult to study with traditional methods.
  • Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies used random thought probes, leading to imprecise timing of brain activity relative to mental experiences.
  • There is a need for methods that can capture the neural correlates of spontaneous thoughts with improved temporal accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and validate a novel method, real-time fMRI-triggered experience sampling (rt-fMRI-ES), for precisely capturing spontaneous thoughts.
  • To investigate the relationship between neural activity in the dorsal anterior insular cortex (daIC) and arousal.
  • To examine the association between neural activity in the posteromedial cortex (PMC) and external attention during wakeful rest.
Keywords:
default mode networkexperience samplingmental healthreal-time fMRIsalience networkspontaneous thought

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Last Updated: Jun 12, 2026

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Main Methods:

  • Developed and implemented real-time fMRI-triggered experience sampling (rt-fMRI-ES) to analyze blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals.
  • Used spontaneous BOLD signal activations in the dorsal anterior insular cortex (daIC) and posteromedial cortex (PMC) to trigger thought probes during wakeful resting state.
  • Tested hypotheses regarding arousal (H1) and external attention (H2) linked to daIC and PMC activations, respectively, in a cohort of participants.

Main Results:

  • The study did not find evidence supporting the hypothesis that daIC activation is linked to higher arousal ratings (H1).
  • Evidence supported the hypothesis that PMC activation is associated with significantly lower external attention ratings (H2).
  • The rt-fMRI-ES method successfully captured spontaneous thoughts based on ongoing neural activity with improved temporal precision.

Conclusions:

  • The real-time fMRI-triggered experience sampling (rt-fMRI-ES) method is a validated and effective technique for studying spontaneous thoughts.
  • Neural activity in the posteromedial cortex (PMC) is specifically related to decreased external attention, offering insights into the default mode network's role.
  • This novel method advances the ability to investigate the neural basis of ongoing mental experiences with enhanced temporal resolution.