Daydreaming a Sign You’re Smart and Creative Say Researchers
“People with efficient brains may have too much brain capacity to stop their minds from wandering,” said Eric Schumacher, the Georgia Tech associate psychology professor who co-authored the study.
Schumacher and his students and colleagues, including lead co-author Christine Godwin, measured the brain patterns of more than 100 people while they lay in an MRI machine. Participants were instructed to focus on a stationary fixation point for five minutes. The Georgia Tech team used the data to identify which parts of the brain worked in unison.
“The correlated brain regions gave us insight about which areas of the brain work together during an awake, resting state,” said Godwin, a Georgia Tech psychology Ph.D. candidate.
“Interestingly, research has suggested that these same brain patterns measured during these states are related to different cognitive abilities.”
Once they figured out how the brain works together at rest, the team compared the data with tests of the participants that measured their intellectual and creative ability. Participants also filled out a questionnaire about how much their mind wandered in daily life.
Those who reported more frequent daydreaming scored higher on intellectual and creative ability and had more efficient brain systems measured in the MRI machine.
How can you tell if your brain is efficient? One clue is that you can zone in and out of conversations or tasks when appropriate, then naturally tune back in without missing important points or steps.
“Our findings remind me of the absent-minded professor — someone who’s brilliant, but off in his or her own world, sometimes oblivious to their own surroundings,” said Schumacher. “Or school children who are too intellectually advanced for their classes. While it may take five minutes for their friends to learn something new, they figure it out in a minute, then check out and start daydreaming.”
Godwin and Schumacher think the findings open the door for follow-up research to further understand when mind wandering is harmful, and when it may actually be helpful.
“There are important individual differences to consider as well, such as a person’s motivation or intent to stay focused on a particular task,” said Godwin.
The paper, “Functional connectivity within and between intrinsic brain networks correlates with trait mind wandering,” is published in the journal Neuropsychologia.
The research is based upon work supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (award number 2014-13121700006). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Contacts and sources:
Jason Maderer
Citation: Functional connectivity within and between intrinsic brain networks correlates with trait mind wandering. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.006
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So your starting to catch up.
It took a study to know this? I was day dreaming while I was reading this…..
Nahhh, just bored.