Characterizing the behavioral consequences and neural correlates of mind wandering
Our minds tend to continuously wander; this can be costly when task-focus is required for performance success. In addition, a wandering mind may be detrimental to psychological health when we ruminate or catastrophize. This line of research aims to understand how mind wandering may contribute to failures in sustained attention (e.g., Krimsky et al., 2017; Zanesco, Denkova, Witkin, & Jha, 2020), and the neural mechanisms supporting its links with attention through event-related potential studies (e.g., Denkova et al., 2018) and explorations of brain dynamics using fMRI and EEG microstate analyses (e.g., Denkova, Nomi, Uddin, & Jha, 2019; Zanesco, Denkova, & Jha, 2021a). In our current projects, we are investigating the tendency for mind wandering to occur more frequently with continued time-on-task in tasks requiring sustained attention (Zanesco, Denkova, & Jha, in revision) and brain electric microstate dynamics associated with the content and quality of spontaneous thought (e.g., Zanesco, Denkova, & Jha, 2021b).
Publications
Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., & Jha, A. P. (2024). Mind-wandering increases in frequency over time during task performance: An individual-participant meta-analytic review.Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000424
Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., & Jha, A. P. (2021b). Associations between self-reported spontaneous thought and temporal sequences of EEG microstates. Brain and Cognition, 150, 105696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105696
Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., & Jha, A. P. (2021a). Self-reported mind wandering and response time variability differentiate pre-stimulus electroencephalogram microstate dynamics during a sustained attention task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33(1), 28-45. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01636
Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., Witkin, J. E., & Jha, A. P. (2020). Experience sampling of the degree of mind wandering distinguishes hidden attentional states. Cognition. 205, 104380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104380
Denkova, E., Nomi, J. S., Uddin, L.Q., & Jha, A. P. (2019). Dynamic brain network configurations during rest and an attention task with frequent occurrence of mind wandering. Human Brain Mapping, 40(15), 4564-4576. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24721
Denkova, E., Brudner, E. G., Zayan, K., Dunn, J., & Jha, A. P. (2018). Attenuated Face Processing during Mind Wandering. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30(11), 1691-1703. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01312
Krimsky, M., Llabre, M. M., Forster, D. E., & Jha, A. P. (2017). The influence of time-on-task on mind wandering and visual working memory. Cognition, 169, 84-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.08.006
Posters
Schwartzman. B., Zanesco. A.P., Denkova. E., Jha. A. P., (2024). Examining Intra-Individual Associations between Mind Wandering and Response Time Variability as a Function of Time-on-Task. Poster accepted at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Toronto, CA.
*Non-exhaustive
