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An examination of ‘mind blanking’

In a research study released in the July problem of the journal Patterns in Cognitive SciencesAndrillon and his group utilized electroencephalography (EEG) — which includes positioning electrodes on individuals’ heads– to determine brain activity while individuals experienced lapses in attention, such as mind roaming or mind blanking. Mind roaming happens when individuals’s ideas wander to jobs or concepts unassociated to the one at hand, while mind blanking includes the lack of all believed.

While using EEG caps, individuals saw numbers flash quickly on a display screen. They were advised to push a button each time a number appeared other than for 3, which they were informed to avoid. This job checks how rapidly individuals respond when a reaction is needed and how well they can hinder that action, when needed.

Since the majority of the provided numbers needed an action, individuals frequently pushed the button by error when they saw a 3 onscreen. The scientists stopped briefly the job as soon as a minute to ask what the individuals were believing, discovering that they were either concentrated on the job, their mind was roaming, or they were experiencing a “mind blank.”

Individuals pushed the button quicker when their minds were roaming, whereas their actions slowed significantly throughout mind blanking, recommending these 2 mindsets stand out.

Brain activity informed a comparable story. The EEG information revealed that the individuals’ brain activity tended to decrease a little more when their minds were blank than when they were roaming, compared to the standard of their taking note. “The connection modifications as if the inner operations of the brain specified, in such a way, to that state,” Andrillion said.

EEG data is great for tracking rapid changes in brain activity, but it can’t pinpoint exactly which brain regions are involved. That’s in part because it records brain waves through the skull, and the signals blur as they make their way through the brain tissue, fluid and bone. Andrillon explained it’s like listening through a wall. You can tell if a group inside is noisy or quiet, but you can’t tell who is talking.

The EEG results from the study suggest that during mind blanking, the brain’s activity slows down globally, but the technique couldn’t identify specific areas. That’s where functional MRI (fMRI) came in.

Related: ‘Hyper-synchronized’ brain waves may explain why different psychedelics have similar effects, rat study reveals

Hypersynchronization

fMRI provides a clearer view of which regions are active and how they interact, but its tracking speed is slower because the technique tracks bloodflow, rather than directly following brain signals. fMRI is more like peeking into the room and seeing who’s talking to whom, but not knowing precisely when, Andrillion said.

Study co-author Athena Demertzi, a neuroscience researcher at the GIGA Institute-CRC Human Imaging Center at the University of Liège in Belgium, led the fMRI portion of the study. As people rested in an fMRI scanner with no particular task at hand, Demertzi and her team periodically asked what they were thinking.

The results were surprising: when people reported mind blanking, their brains showed hyperconnectivity — a global, synchronized activity pattern similar to that seen in deep sleep. Typically, when we are awake and conscious, our brain regions are connected and communicating but not synchronized, as they appear to be during mind blanks.

“What we believe occurs when it comes to mind blanking is that the brain is pressed a bit towards the side of synchronization,” Andrillon said. “That may be enough to interfere with these sweet areas of awareness, sending our mind to blank.”

Research into mind blanking is still in its early stages, but Andrillon and Demertzi noted that its similarity to brain patterns seen during deep sleep may offer an important clue as to its function. Deep sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep, coincides with important cleanup work for the brain. It clears away accumulated waste, cools the brain, conserves energy and helps reset the system after a full day of mental activity.

Andrillon and Demertzi suggested mind blanking may act as a mini-reset while we’re awake. Demertzi said it’s like “taking 5 to steam off” or “to cool your head.” Early studies in Demertzi’s lab suggest sleep-deprived people report more mind blanks, adding support to this idea.

Both researchers stressed that this state is likely a way for the brain to maintain itself, though “it’s not perfect for efficiency,” Andrillon said.

Andrillon believes it’s possible but unlikely that there are people who have never experienced mind blanking. Detecting a mind blank can be a challenge. “It can need being interrupted,” Andrillon said, “to understand, ‘OK, really, there was no material.'”

Roberta McLain is a science author and science instructor based north of Boston, Massachusetts. She got her master’s degree in science composing from Johns Hopkins, a master’s degree in biology from the University of New Hampshire, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from Union College, Schenectady, New York. Her work has actually likewise appeared in publications such asScientific American, The Science Writer, Science News Explores and The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. She is driven to make science easy to understand to individuals of any ages.

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