Distracted people have a hard time: they confuse the time and place of the meeting, they are late for important meetings, they forget bags with important documents. Concentration exercises wander from book to book and collect thousands of “likes” on the Internet. But scientists are sure that sometimes it is useful for our brain to “fall out” of reality.
Scientists from the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of the Brain at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) managed to artificially induce a state of “wandering mind” in volunteers. During the experiment, the participants were subjected to micropolarization – the effects of electrical impulses on the brain in the region of the frontal lobes. These parts of the brain are responsible for speech, logical thinking and concentration. “Exposure to the electric current changed the neural connections of the participants in such a way that they began to think more about something personal and daydream (1), explains Vadim Axelrod, lead researcher. “It all happened unconsciously.” The researcher also drew attention to an interesting fact: despite the fact that the subjects began to dream more, the results of the main task (external task) not only did not worsen, but even improved. Thus, stimulation may have increased overall cognitive capacity.
The data obtained by Axelrod’s team echoes earlier research. For example, in 2012, psychologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) conducted a series of mindfulness tests on a group of volunteers aged 18 to 65. Those who were more likely to be distracted while taking tests, on average, did better on multitasking exercises, such as memorizing a letter while solving math equations (2).
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Why is this happening? It would seem that a decrease in concentration should, on the contrary, reduce the productivity of work. But the fact is that during the mental “wandering” our brain is not at all passive. On the contrary, paradoxically, brain activity increases. If in a state of concentration activity is observed in specific areas of the brain, then in a diffuse state it is distributed over various areas.
In 2001, neuroscientist Marcus Raichle discovered the so-called “resting network” (or “passive mode network”), which takes the lead when our attention is unfocused. According to Ryle and his followers, the existence of a resting network makes it possible to explain the phenomena of sudden insights, brilliant guesses. In the passive mode, the brain processes information more freely, uses different areas, memory areas. This allows him to find solutions to complex problems, find unexpected connections between phenomena, and more freely predict future events.
“I think if the situation allows – for example, you are not on an exam or driving – abstract thinking can be important and useful,” says Vadim Axelrod. – Modern technologies reduce the time that a person spends thinking. He would rather dig into his gadget than be alone with his thoughts. The problem is not that we find it difficult to maintain focus all the time, but that we are not able to truly distract ourselves from absorbing information.
1. PNAS, 2015, vol. 112, № 11.
2. Psychological Science, 2012, vol. 23, № 4.