Letting your mind wander can sometimes improve learning

When people let their minds wander during tasks that require attention and active thinking, it can hurt how well they learn and perform the tasks. But there are more passive kinds of learning that require less attention. Péter Simor, from Eötvös Loránd University, and colleagues explored how mind wandering influences learning in tasks requiring little attention in their JNeurosci paper.  

Nearly 40 study participants performed a simple learning task while the researchers recorded their brain activity. This simple task was used because participants could make predictions based off probabilities that they learned without awareness. Mind wandering while doing the task did not worsen performance, and in some cases even enhanced learning. Spontaneous mind wandering was more beneficial to learning than deliberate mind wandering. During mind wandering and improvements in task learning, oscillatory neural activity in the cortex, resembling the brain activity that occurs during sleep or sleep-like states, occurred. Thus, sleep-like neural activity linked to spontaneous mind wandering promotes learning in tasks that require minimal attention. “Most cognitive work looks at learning when you are fully engaged. But in real life we spend so much time passively learning! As our brain needs sleep, maybe we also need passive ways of learning, or ‘wakeful rest,’ to recover from tasks that require your brain to be online and engaged,” says Simor. 

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About JNeurosci

JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.

About The Society for Neuroscience

The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.