Towards a psychological and neuroscientific account of the wandering mind

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Jonathan Smallwood

University of California, Santa Barbara

UMR5549 Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition (CerCo)

Jessica Andrews-Hanna

University of Colorado Boulder

Columbia University

Jonathan Schooler

University of California, Santa Barbara

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A fundamental feature of the mind is its tendency to wander from the constraints of the perceptual moment towards internally generated thoughts and feelings. Recent interest in mind-wandering as a topic of inquiry has revealed (i) its implications for the integrity of ongoing task performance, (ii) the neural substrates that support its expression, (iii) its relationship to consciousness, (iv) the implication that it has for the emotional state of the individual and (v) the functions that it serves in daily life. This Research Topic of Frontiers will be a forum for cutting-edge work by researchers with a diversity of perspectives. We welcome review papers that adopt a historical, psychological, or cognitive neuroscientific perspective on the mind-wandering phenomenon. We also anticipate featuring behavioral and neuroimaging data on mind-wandering, as well as studies documenting how the experience manifests in different states of consciousness or in various clinical disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, or attention deficit disorder). Submissions pertaining to training that impacts neuro-cognitive, behavioral or phenomenal features of mind-wandering will also be considered.

A fundamental feature of the mind is its tendency to wander from the constraints of the perceptual moment towards internally generated thoughts and feelings. Recent interest in mind-wandering as a topic of inquiry has revealed (i) its implications for the integrity of ongoing task performance, (ii) the neural substrates that support its expression, (iii) its relationship to consciousness, (iv) the implication that it has for the emotional state of the individual and (v) the functions that it serves in daily life. This Research Topic of Frontiers will be a forum for cutting-edge work by researchers with a diversity of perspectives. We welcome review papers that adopt a historical, psychological, or cognitive neuroscientific perspective on the mind-wandering phenomenon. We also anticipate featuring behavioral and neuroimaging data on mind-wandering, as well as studies documenting how the experience manifests in different states of consciousness or in various clinical disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, or attention deficit disorder). Submissions pertaining to training that impacts neuro-cognitive, behavioral or phenomenal features of mind-wandering will also be considered.

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Editors

Jonathan Smallwood

University of California, Santa Barbara

UMR5549 Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition (CerCo)

Jessica Andrews-Hanna

University of Colorado Boulder

Columbia University

Jonathan Schooler

University of California, Santa Barbara

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779,426 Total views

632,964 Article views

131,688 Article downloads

14,774 Topic views

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Frontiers in Psychology

Perception Science

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Frontiers in Neuroscience

Perception Science

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