The Electrophysiological Signature of Mind Wandering
bioRxiv Preprint Server October 25, 2019 Stefan Arnau, Christoph Löffler, Jan Rummel et al. 2 citations preprint
Mind wandering during tasks reduces accuracy and increases the risk of failure in both laboratory and real-world settings. EEG can measure mind wandering non-invasively, but prior findings on its neural correlates have been inconsistent. In a switching task with occasional thought probes, participants showed lower response accuracy when mind wandering. Alpha power during the inter-trial interval was significantly higher on trials where participants reported mind wandering, a widespread effect consistent with alpha power indicating an internally focused state. This suggests alpha power could be used to detect mind wandering online in critical tasks to prevent failures.