Skip to content

Boredom, sustained attention and the default mode network

James Danckert, Colleen Merrifield

Experimental Brain Research March 15, 2016 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-016-4617-5 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational cohort Peer reviewed
Population Healthy participants
Interventions sustained attention task interest mood induction
Topics Default mode network
Keywords Boredom Mind-wandering Cognitive psychology Cognition
Citations 203
Key findings Boredom involves anticorrelated activity between the default mode network and the anterior insula cortex, indicating a failure to engage executive control networks during monotonous tasks.

Abstract

Boredom is a ubiquitous human experience that can best be described as an inability to engage with one's environment despite the motivation to do so. Boredom is perceived as a negative experience and demonstrates strong associations with other negatively valenced states including depression and aggression. Although boredom has been shown to be elevated in neurological and psychiatric illnesses, little is known about the neural underpinnings of the state. We scanned the brains of healthy participants under four separate conditions: a resting state scan, a sustained attention task and two video-based mood inductions, one known to produce boredom and another we validated to produce a state of interest or engagement. Using independent components analyses, results showed common regions of correlated activation in posterior regions of the so-called default mode network (DMN) of the brain across all four conditions. The sustained attention and boredom induction scans were differentiated from the resting state scan by the presence of anticorrelated activity-i.e. when DMN regions were active, this region was deactivated-in the anterior insula cortex. This same region demonstrated correlated activity with both the DMN and the regions associated with attentional control during the interest mood induction. We interpret these findings to suggest that boredom represents a failure to engage executive control networks when faced with a monotonous task-in other words, when the task demands some level of engagement (watch the movie, search for infrequent targets), but is so mundane that attempts to do so fail.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain 2001 Observational study
Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects 2008 Observational cohort
Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls 2005 Observational cohort n = 20
Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls 2011 Observational cohort
The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects 2008 Observational study

Citations in the library

Cited by 6

and 1 more in the library

Cites 6

and 1 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Default mode network Depression Meditation