Distinct individual differences in default mode network connectivity relate to off-task thought and text memory during reading
Scientific Reports November 7, 2019 Meichao Zhang, Nicola Savill, Daniel S. Margulies et al. 48 citations
People often find their thoughts drifting away from the text they are reading, a tendency known as mind-wandering, which impairs comprehension and memory for the text. Using fMRI, the study found that individuals with poorer memory for texts show reduced activity in the left middle temporal gyrus in response to written input. This region sits at the intersection of the default mode, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal networks. In a resting-state analysis, stronger connectivity within the default mode network was associated with better text memory, while greater decoupling between the default mode network and medial visual regions was linked to more frequent mind-wandering. These results suggest that intrinsic brain network connectivity influences how attention stays engaged with reading.