TY - JOUR
T1 - Revisiting consciousness
T2 - Distinguishing between states of conscious focused attention and mind wandering with EEG
AU - Dias Da Silva-van Riel, Mariana
AU - Gonçalves, Óscar F.
AU - Branco, Diogo
AU - Postma, Marie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - Fluctuating between external conscious processing and mind wandering is inherent to the human condition. Past research showed that in tasks requiring sustained attention, mind wandering episodes in which attention is directed internally constrain conscious processing of external stimuli. Conversely, conscious processing of internal stimuli is enhanced during mind wandering. To investigate this, we developed and administered a visuomotor tracking task in which participants were instructed to track the path of a stimulus on a screen with a mouse while responding to rare targets. Prior to reports of mind wandering we found the following: The P3 event-related potential component for targets, indicative of conscious stimulus processing, was attenuated at electrodes Cz and Pz. Moreover, alpha power, indicative of internal mental states, increased globally. Theta power increased along the centroparietal area, and beta decreased along right frontal and right centroparietal areas. Interestingly, trait mind wandering was positively correlated with delta power and gamma power, but negatively correlated with the theta-beta ratio. These results demonstrate that mind wandering is characterized by distinct neural signatures at both a state and trait level.
AB - Fluctuating between external conscious processing and mind wandering is inherent to the human condition. Past research showed that in tasks requiring sustained attention, mind wandering episodes in which attention is directed internally constrain conscious processing of external stimuli. Conversely, conscious processing of internal stimuli is enhanced during mind wandering. To investigate this, we developed and administered a visuomotor tracking task in which participants were instructed to track the path of a stimulus on a screen with a mouse while responding to rare targets. Prior to reports of mind wandering we found the following: The P3 event-related potential component for targets, indicative of conscious stimulus processing, was attenuated at electrodes Cz and Pz. Moreover, alpha power, indicative of internal mental states, increased globally. Theta power increased along the centroparietal area, and beta decreased along right frontal and right centroparietal areas. Interestingly, trait mind wandering was positively correlated with delta power and gamma power, but negatively correlated with the theta-beta ratio. These results demonstrate that mind wandering is characterized by distinct neural signatures at both a state and trait level.
KW - Attention
KW - Consciousness
KW - EEG
KW - Mind wandering
KW - Perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128562236&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2022.103332
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2022.103332
M3 - Article
SN - 1053-8100
VL - 101
JO - Consciousness and Cognition
JF - Consciousness and Cognition
M1 - 103332
ER -