Catching wandering minds with tapping fingers: neural and behavioral insights into task-unrelated cognition
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https://hdl.handle.net/10037/27956Date
2022-01-17Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Author
Groot, Josephine Maria; Csifcsák, Gábor; Wientjes, Sven; Forstmann, Birte U.; Mittner, MatthiasAbstract
When the human mind wanders, it engages in episodes during which attention is focused on self-generated thoughts rather than on
external task demands. Although the sustained attention to response task is commonly used to examine relationships between
mind wandering and executive functions, limited executive resources are required for optimal task performance. In the current
study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between mind wandering and executive functions more closely by employing a
recently developed finger-tapping task to monitor f luctuations in attention and executive control through task performance and
periodical experience sampling during concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and pupillometry. Our results show
that mind wandering was preceded by increases in finger-tapping variability, which was correlated with activity in dorsal and ventral
attention networks. The entropy of random finger-tapping sequences was related to activity in frontoparietal regions associated
with executive control, demonstrating the suitability of this paradigm for studying executive functioning. The neural correlates of
behavioral performance, pupillary dynamics, and self-reported attentional state diverged, thus indicating a dissociation between
direct and indirect markers of mind wandering. Together, the investigation of these relationships at both the behavioral and neural
level provided novel insights into the identification of underlying mechanisms of mind wandering.
Is part of
Groot, J.M. (2023). Neural mechanisms of the wandering mind. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/30519.Publisher
Oxford University PressCitation
Groot, Csifcsák, Wientjes, Forstmann, Mittner. Catching wandering minds with tapping fingers: neural and behavioral insights into task-unrelated cognition. Cerebral Cortex. 2022;32(20):4447-4463Metadata
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