Where is my Mind?: A Neurocognitive Investigation of Mind Blanking
Thomas Andrillon, Antoine Lutz, Jennifer Windt, Athéna Demertzi
October 17, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/xmtga via OpenAlex
Summary
Mind blanking (MB) refers to moments during wakefulness when people report no specific thoughts. This review maps MB by examining its reportable expressions, brain signatures, and links to meditative practices and sleep (white dreams). The authors propose a mechanistic account linking MB to changes at physiological, neural, and cognitive levels. They argue that ongoing experience varies in richness and that seemingly contentless events are distinct mental states with their own diversity, challenging the view of the mind as primarily content-oriented.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Neurocognitive Blanking Cognitive psychology Cognitive science Cognition |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key finding | Mind blanking is proposed to be a distinct mental state with its own diversity, challenging the view of the mind as a content-oriented operator. |
Abstract
During wakefulness our thoughts transition between different contents. Alongside, there are moments devoid of specific reportable content, known as mind blanking (MB). Currently, it remains unclear what these blanks refer to, highlighting the definitional and phenomenological ambiguities surrounding MB. We here map out MB in terms of its reportable expressions, associated neurophysiological signatures, and adjacent phenomenology to meditative practices and sleep (white dreams). By means of a mechanistic account, we propose that MB can be related to changes at physiological, neural, and cognitive levels. Overall, we hold that ongoing experience comes at degrees of richness and that allegedly contentless events are distinct mental states with their own diversity, therefore challenging the view of the mind as a content-oriented operator.