Mind Wandering: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Mind wandering reputedly consumes approximately 30 to 50 of our daily thinking time and it is driven by the brain's default mode network. Mind wandering has reputedly been similar across cultures. During unrestricted mind wandering, more thoughts occurred that were positive and future oriented. One of four thoughts during mind wandering was an imaginary thought. Negative cognitive effects of mind wandering have included decreased attention, reduced memory, rumination, and anxious decision-making. Negative behavior effects have included inferior performance, increased omission errors, emotional dysregulation, hyperactivity symptoms, obsessive compulsive symptoms, problematic alcohol use and lower sleep quality. Several predictors/risk factors have been noted including young age, neuroticism, supine position, lack of curiosity, negative affect, increased wakefulness, less mindfulness, blinking, and cannabis use. A few potential underlying biological mechanisms for mind wandering have been researched including activation of the gray matter network, the default mode network and the left superior parietal lobe. Methodological limitations of this literature include arbitrary selection of mediator variables and cross-sectional data that have limited directionality conclusions.