Neuroimage
February 25, 2015
Kieran C. R. Fox, R. Nathan Spreng, Melissa Ellamil et al.
717 citations
Spontaneous thought processes such as mind-wandering recruit both default mode network (DMN) regions and many non-DMN areas. A meta-analysis of 24 functional neuroimaging studies found consistent activation in DMN regions including medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, medial temporal lobe, and bilateral inferior parietal lobule, but also in non-DMN regions such as rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, temporopolar cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, and lingual gyrus. These findings indicate that DMN activation alone cannot fully explain the neural basis of spontaneous thought; frontoparietal control network and other areas are equally central. Progress in cognitive and clinical neuroscience of spontaneous thought requires a broader view beyond the DMN.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2013
Jonathan Smallwood, Jessica R Andrews-Hanna
441 citations
The waking mind frequently generates thoughts unrelated to the present moment, such as mind-wandering or daydreaming, which can interfere with tasks and signal unhappiness or psychiatric issues, yet occupy up to half of our waking time. Under non-demanding conditions, these self-generated thoughts connect past and future selves, aid long-term planning, and inspire creativity. The mind prioritizes such cognition over many other mental acts, suggesting it is a key evolutionary adaptation granting consciousness freedom from the here and now. This synthesis of cognitive and clinical psychology proposes two hypotheses: task context and thought content constrain the costs and benefits of self-generated thought, and an impartial perspective can guide investigation of these costs and benefits.
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
May 1, 2024
Víctor De la Peña-arteaga, Marta Cano, Daniel Porta-Casteràs et al.
5 citations
In patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) undergoing a 3-month mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) programme, distinct baseline brain connectivity patterns were associated with four clinical domains: positive affect, negative affect, anxiety sensitivity, and rumination. Key brain nodes—the precuneus and frontopolar cortex—within the ventral default mode network and frontostriatal network showed predictive and response associations with clinical changes. MBCT may modulate connectivity in these networks, potentially reducing symptoms across domains. These network-based biomarkers could help personalize treatment and identify patients most likely to benefit from MBCT.
Revista de psiquiatria y salud mental
January 1, 2023
Neus Miquel-Giner, Muriel Vicent-Gil, Ignacio Martínez-zalacaín et al.
4 citations
About 40-50% of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) continue to experience obsessions and compulsions after first-line treatments. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is proposed as an augmentation strategy to help patients decentre from distressful thoughts, potentially increasing non-reactivity and reducing compulsions. This randomized clinical trial of 60 OCD patients who did not respond to first-line treatments will compare an MBCT program (10 weekly 120-minute sessions) with treatment as usual. The primary outcome is change in OCD severity, measured by clinician and self-reported assessments. Comprehensive evaluations will include comorbid clinical variables, neuropsychological functioning, thought content, and structural and functional neuroimaging at baseline and post-intervention. This is the first RCT in this population to examine clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging variables together to identify neural patterns associated with MBCT response.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
January 1, 2026
Maria Serra-Blasco, Neus Miquel-Giner, Muriel Vicent-Gil et al.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) added to usual treatment reduces obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms more than usual treatment alone. In a trial of 68 moderately symptomatic adults, those receiving MBCT showed a 31.73% reduction on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale compared to 8.07% in the treatment-as-usual group. MBCT also lowered depressive symptoms, rumination, and perceived stress, and improved quality of life. No changes in resting-state brain connectivity were detected after treatment, but lower baseline connectivity in fronto-striatal, salience, and default mode networks predicted greater symptom reduction, suggesting a neural basis for MBCT response.
iScience
November 21, 2025
Yuhua Yu, Quentin Raffaelli, Delaney Freveletti et al.
The brain supports unprompted, stream-of-consciousness thoughts through a multistage neural architecture. Using fMRI while people spoke their thoughts aloud, recurring brain states were identified that track moment-to-moment thought content. A brain state involving core default mode network regions tracked the early emergence of internally oriented thought. A state engaging executive control and dorsal attention networks tracked externally oriented thought. A third state involving the medial temporal lobe and dorsal attention network engaged later during internal thought verbalization, suggesting roles in elaboration. This latter state was also linked to a large-language-model derived measure of surprisal, signaling novelty and internal event boundaries. Default mode network subsystems interact with attention and control networks to scaffold the fluid progression of spontaneous thoughts.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
September 30, 2021
Yoni K Ashar, Jessica R Andrews-Hanna, Joan Halifax et al.
A four-week compassion meditation program delivered via smartphone increased brain activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) when participants listened to stories of suffering others, compared with a condition that controlled for increased familiarity with suffering. Among compassion meditation participants, greater increases in mOFC activity correlated with greater self-reported compassion-related feelings and attributions. Compared with a placebo condition (presented as oxytocin), the meditation group showed a similar mOFC increase at an uncorrected statistical threshold. The authors conclude that the mOFC is an important brain mechanism of compassion meditation, that its effects are not explained by familiarity, and that they are partly explained by placebo effects.