The P3 ERP was attenuated prior to reported episodes of mind wandering (MW).
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Increases in delta, theta and alpha were found prior to reported episodes of MW.
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Beta attenuation prior to reports of MW was limited to the right hemisphere.
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Findings pertaining to ERP and oscillatory activity are task-independent.
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Trait MW positively correlated with delta and gamma but negatively with the TBR.
Abstract
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.
