People Who Have This One Unproductive Habit May Actually Have The Sharpest Brains, According To Neuroscience
Who knew letting your mind wander off could be so good for you?
HBRH | Shutterstock Usually, people don’t think of daydreaming as a positive thing. Sure, it can be fun, but it takes your focus away from the task at hand and gets you inside your head instead. Daydreaming may not be considered the most productive of habits, but, in good news for daydreamers everywhere, scientists have discovered that it may actually be a sign that your brain is doing well.
A study found that daydreaming is one way to keep your brain sharp.
A study published in the journal Nature concluded that daydreaming is actually good for you, even though it may distract you for a bit. Nghia D. Nguyen, one of the study authors and a doctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School, examined lab mice’s neurons when they recalled a flash of light they were shown.
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Nguyen said, “Reactivations early in a session systematically differed from the pattern evoked by the previous stimulus, they were more similar to future stimulus response patterns.” Adrian Villellas, who covered the study for Earth.com, explained that this “[shows] that mental replay predicts tomorrow rather than echoing yesterday.”
Scientists have found that daydreaming actually activates completely different parts of the brain, which helps keep it sharp. When someone is not paying close attention to what they’re doing, the default mode network activates, Villellas said. According to Psychology Today, the network “spans a number of brain regions, incorporating parts of the prefrontal, parietal and temporal cortices that show joint activation, or deactivation, in connection with particular mental functions.”
“Researchers believe this network helps the brain simulate possibilities, plan actions and rehearse outcomes,” Villellas shared. “Instead of wasting energy, the brain uses these quiet moments to stitch together pieces of knowledge and past experiences.”
Other research confirmed the brain benefits of daydreaming.
These ideas about the default mode network have been proven by other studies and researchers. For example, Erin Wamsley, a cognitive neuroscientist, had some study participants engage in “quiet wakefulness,” which could also be described as daydreaming, and other participants watch videos. The next day, the participants who spent time in quiet wakefulness were better able to remember a list of words.
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Researcher Kalina Christoff performed functional MRI studies that revealed daydreaming causes the brain’s planning system, memories, and imagination to connect. Villellas said, “This brief connection helps mix past experiences with current goals, which can lead to new ideas.”
Another study from 2008 required participants to picture one of their favorite meals while one of their hands sat in a bowl of ice water. Researchers found that their anxiety decreased while their pain tolerance increased. They concluded that this meant when the mind drifts off, people pay less attention to things that are uncomfortable. This effect can be replicated by recalling memories in day-to-day life when feeling stressed.
Are there ideal ways to daydream?
Research from the University of Virginia found that certain tasks like taking a shower, doing the dishes, or taking a walk can be the best times to daydream because they are “safe, repetitive activities.” This kind of daydreaming is safe enough, but could there be times when daydreaming isn’t advisable?
Obviously, if you’re doing something like operating heavy machinery, you don’t want your head to be in the clouds. You also want to avoid what is known as maladaptive daydreaming. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Maladaptive daydreaming is a mental health issue where a person daydreams excessively, sometimes for hours at a time. ‘Maladaptive’ means this type of daydreaming is an unhealthy or negative attempt to cope with or adapt to a problem. People who do this tend to ‘lose themselves’ in extremely vivid and detailed daydreams.”
So, in most cases, daydreaming is innocent enough and can even help to keep your brain sharp in a world that does everything possible to dull it. So, perhaps instead of doomscrolling on your phone when you have a few minutes of downtime, use those moments to let your mind wander and see where your imagination takes you. Your brain will be better for it.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
