It’s natural for the human mind to wander, but this tendency can lead to unhappiness. The ability to contemplate what’s not happening is a cognitive accomplishment, but it comes at an emotional expense. Instead of bringing happiness, this constant mental wandering is causing misery for all of us.

We’ve all been there – trying to focus on a task but getting sidetracked by irrelevant thoughts. Although mind-wandering is often associated with mental issues like depression, it can also boost creativity. Rather than trying to eliminate mind-wandering, we should learn to manage it.

The key to managing mind-wandering is recognizing when it’s happening. Once we’re aware of it, we have the power to choose whether to continue or stop it. 

Now, scientists at ATR have come up with a neurofeedback technique that enhances awareness of mind-wandering, allowing us to take control of our thoughts.

They conducted a double-blind test with 36 individuals and discovered that 20 minutes of neurofeedback greatly improved awareness of mind-wandering.

Computer algorithms were used to divide participants into control and experimental groups, although experimenters were not informed of these assignments.

Artificial intelligence was employed during neurofeedback to detect participants’ mind-wandering while they were doing a task that required focus.

Soft tones were played in the control group at random intervals. Those tones were played in the experimental group whenever neurofeedback identified a participant’s mind wandering.

However, participants in both groups were informed that tones were meaningless and advised to ignore them up until debriefing at the conclusion of the experiment.

Based on the observation that people become aware of mind-wandering when their attention is brought back to the external environment, they proposed that this new neurofeedback method would lead to an increased awareness of mind-wandering as it occurs.  

There were two special aspects to this research. First, individuals in the experimental group were unaware that they had received neurofeedback and were more conscious of their mind-wandering.

Secondly, in traditional neurofeedback, participants are rewarded for successfully controlling their brain activity.  Our neurofeedback, in comparison, used neither incentives nor penalties. It was based on conventional (Pavlovian) conditioning instead.

This study didn’t find out how long the effects of this neurofeedback last, but it’s likely that they won’t last for very long. But in the future, they will look at whether the effects of repeated neurofeedback last in everyday life. They are also planning to look into ways to train to improve mood and mental problems and boost creativity.

Source: 10.1016/j.neunet.2022.11.024

Image Credit: Getty