Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills
Mind wandering (MW) encompasses both a deliberate and a spontaneous disengagement of attention from the immediate external environment to unrelated internal thoughts. Importantly, MW has been suggested to have an inverse relationship with mindfulness, a state of nonjudgmental awareness of present-mo...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1515902/full |
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| author | Sara Sorella Cristiano Crescentini Alessio Matiz Alessio Matiz Minah Chang Alessandro Grecucci Alessandro Grecucci |
| author_facet | Sara Sorella Cristiano Crescentini Alessio Matiz Alessio Matiz Minah Chang Alessandro Grecucci Alessandro Grecucci |
| author_sort | Sara Sorella |
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| description | Mind wandering (MW) encompasses both a deliberate and a spontaneous disengagement of attention from the immediate external environment to unrelated internal thoughts. Importantly, MW has been suggested to have an inverse relationship with mindfulness, a state of nonjudgmental awareness of present-moment experience. Although they are, respectively, associated with increased and decreased activity in the default mode network (DMN), the specific contributions of deliberate and spontaneous MW, and their relationships with mindfulness abilities and resting-state macro networks remain to be elucidated. Therefore, resting-state MRI scans from 76 participants were analyzed with group independent component analysis to decompose brain networks into independent macro-networks and to see which of them predicted specific aspects of spontaneous and deliberate MW or mindfulness traits. Our results show that temporal variability of the resting-state DMN predicts spontaneous MW, which in turn is negatively associated with the acting with awareness facet of mindfulness. This finding shows that the DMN is not directly associated with overall mindfulness, but rather demonstrates that there exists a close relationship between DMN and MW, and furthermore, that the involvement of mindfulness abilities in this dynamic may be secondary. In sum, our study contributes to a better understanding of the neural bases of spontaneous MW and its relationship with mindfulness. These results open up the possibility of intervening on specific aspects of our cognitive abilities: for example, our data suggest that training the mindfulness facet acting with awareness would allow lessening our tendency for MW at inopportune times. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d7f1ce53158f4a589288a662ff638b4d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-d7f1ce53158f4a589288a662ff638b4d2025-01-22T07:14:44ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612025-01-011910.3389/fnhum.2025.15159021515902Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skillsSara Sorella0Cristiano Crescentini1Alessio Matiz2Alessio Matiz3Minah Chang4Alessandro Grecucci5Alessandro Grecucci6Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, ItalyDepartment of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, ItalyDepartment of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, Udine, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyClinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, ItalyClinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, ItalyCentre for Medical Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, ItalyMind wandering (MW) encompasses both a deliberate and a spontaneous disengagement of attention from the immediate external environment to unrelated internal thoughts. Importantly, MW has been suggested to have an inverse relationship with mindfulness, a state of nonjudgmental awareness of present-moment experience. Although they are, respectively, associated with increased and decreased activity in the default mode network (DMN), the specific contributions of deliberate and spontaneous MW, and their relationships with mindfulness abilities and resting-state macro networks remain to be elucidated. Therefore, resting-state MRI scans from 76 participants were analyzed with group independent component analysis to decompose brain networks into independent macro-networks and to see which of them predicted specific aspects of spontaneous and deliberate MW or mindfulness traits. Our results show that temporal variability of the resting-state DMN predicts spontaneous MW, which in turn is negatively associated with the acting with awareness facet of mindfulness. This finding shows that the DMN is not directly associated with overall mindfulness, but rather demonstrates that there exists a close relationship between DMN and MW, and furthermore, that the involvement of mindfulness abilities in this dynamic may be secondary. In sum, our study contributes to a better understanding of the neural bases of spontaneous MW and its relationship with mindfulness. These results open up the possibility of intervening on specific aspects of our cognitive abilities: for example, our data suggest that training the mindfulness facet acting with awareness would allow lessening our tendency for MW at inopportune times.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1515902/fullmind wanderingmindfulnesstemporal variabilitydefault mode networkspontaneous mind wanderingdeliberate mind wandering |
| spellingShingle | Sara Sorella Cristiano Crescentini Alessio Matiz Alessio Matiz Minah Chang Alessandro Grecucci Alessandro Grecucci Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills Frontiers in Human Neuroscience mind wandering mindfulness temporal variability default mode network spontaneous mind wandering deliberate mind wandering |
| title | Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills |
| title_full | Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills |
| title_fullStr | Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills |
| title_short | Resting-state BOLD temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering, which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills |
| title_sort | resting state bold temporal variability of the default mode network predicts spontaneous mind wandering which is negatively associated with mindfulness skills |
| topic | mind wandering mindfulness temporal variability default mode network spontaneous mind wandering deliberate mind wandering |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1515902/full |
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