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Alzheimer’s and dementia: Understand wandering and how to address it

Dana Sparks

Understand wandering

If a person with dementia is returning from regular walks or drives later than usual or is forgetting how to get to familiar places, he or she may be wandering.

There are many reasons why a person who has dementia might wander, including:

Stress or fear. The person with dementia might wander as a reaction to feeling nervous in a crowded area, such as a restaurant.
Searching. He or she might get lost while searching for something or someone, such as past friends.
Basic needs. He or she might be looking for a bathroom or food or want to go outdoors.
Following past routines. He or she might try to go to work or buy groceries.
Visual-spatial problems. He or she can get lost even in familiar places because dementia affects the parts of the brain important for visual guidance and navigation.

Also, the risk of wandering might be higher for men than women.

Prevent wandering

Wandering isn't necessarily harmful if it occurs in a safe and controlled environment. However, wandering can pose safety issues — especially in very hot and cold temperatures or if the person with dementia ends up in a secluded area.

To prevent unsafe wandering, identify the times of day that wandering might occur. Plan meaningful activities to keep the person with dementia better engaged. If the person is searching for a spouse or wants to "go home," avoid correcting him or her. Instead, consider ways to validate and explore the person's feelings. If the person feels abandoned or disoriented, provide reassurance that he or she is safe.

Also, make sure the person's basic needs are regularly met and consider avoiding busy or crowded places.

Take precautions

To keep your loved one safe:

Provide supervision. Continuous supervision is ideal. Be sure that someone is home with the person at all times. Stay with the person when in a new or changed environment. Don't leave the person alone in a car.
Install alarms and locks. Various devices can alert you that the person with dementia is on the move. You might place pressure-sensitive alarm mats at the door or at the person's bedside, put warning bells on doors, use childproof covers on doorknobs or install an alarm system that chimes when a door is opened. If the person tends to unlock doors, install sliding bolt locks out of his or her line of sight.
Camouflage doors. Place removable curtains over doors. Cover doors with paint or wallpaper that matches the surrounding walls. Or place a scenic poster on the door or a sign that says "Stop" or "Do not enter."
Keep keys out of sight. If the person with dementia is no longer driving, hide the car keys. Also, keep out of sight shoes, coats, hats and other items that might be associated with leaving home.

Ensure a safe return

Wanderers who get lost can be difficult to find because they often react unpredictably. For example, they might not call for help or respond to searchers' calls. Once found, wanderers might not remember their names or where they live.

If you are caring for someone who might wander, inform the local police, your neighbors and other close contacts. Compile a list of emergency phone numbers in case you can't find the person with dementia. Keep on hand a recent photo or video of the person, his or her medical information, and a list of places that he or she might wander to, such as previous homes or places of work.

Have the person carry an identification card or wear a medical bracelet, and place labels in the person's garments. Also, consider enrolling in the MedicAlert and Alzheimer's Association safe-return program. For a fee, participants receive an identification bracelet, necklace or clothing tags and access to 24-hour support in case of emergency. You also might have your loved one wear a GPS or other tracking device.

If the person with dementia wanders, search the immediate area for no more than 15 minutes and then contact local authorities and the safe-return program — if you've enrolled. The sooner you seek help, the sooner the person is likely to be found.

This article is written by Mayo Clinic Staff . Find more health and medical information on mayoclinic.org .

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Cover Focus | June 2022

Wandering & Sundowning in Dementia

Preventive and acute management of some of the most challenging aspects of dementia is possible..

Taylor Thomas, BA; and Aaron Ritter, MD

Alzheimer disease (AD) and related dementias are complex disorders that affect multiple brain systems, resulting in a wide range of cognitive and behavioral manifestations. The behavioral symptoms often have clinical analogs in idiopathic psychiatric disorders and are frequently referred to as neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) of dementia. Many therapeutic strategies for NPS are borrowed from treatment of idiopathic psychiatric disorders. For example, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) commonly used to treat major depressive disorder may also be prescribed for depressive symptoms in AD. This strategy has been deemed the “therapeutic metaphor” and has shown varying degrees of success in clinical trials. 1

Clinicians face significant challenges, however, when there is no suitable metaphor to guide treatment for behaviors that emerge solely in dementia. This is particularly problematic for 2 of the most burdensome behavioral manifestations of dementia—sundowning (the worsening of symptoms in the late afternoon and early evening) and wandering. Despite being among the most impactful behaviors in dementia, there is very little research evidence to guide therapeutic approaches. This review provides a brief update of the current literature regarding wandering and sundowning in dementia. Using evidence-based approaches from the research literature, where available, and best practices adopted from our own clinical practice when little evidence exists, we outline a practical treatment algorithm that can be used in the clinic when facing either of these common and problematic behaviors.

Wandering Frequency, Consequences & Causes

Wandering is a complex behavioral phenomenon that is frequent in dementia. Approximately 20% of community-dwelling individuals with dementia and 60% of those living in institutionalized settings are reported to wander .2 Most definitions of wandering incorporate a variety of dementia-related locomotion activities, including elopement (ie, attempts to escape), repetitive pacing, and becoming lost. 3 More recently, the term “critical wandering” or “missing incidents” have been used to draw distinctions between elopement and pacing vs wandering and becoming lost. 4 Critical wandering episodes have a high mortality rate of 20%, placing this symptom among the most dangerous behavioral manifestations of dementia. 5

The risk of wandering increases with severity of cognitive impairment, with the highest rate in those with Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores of 13 or less. 6 Individuals who frequently wander (ie, multiple times per week) almost always have at least moderate dementia. Few studies have compared wandering rates among people with different types of dementia. 7 Experience from our clinical practice suggests that wandering is most common in AD—where spatial disorientation and amnesia are common clinical features—but can also occur in moderate to advanced stages of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). The presence of comorbid NPS (eg, severe depression, sleep disorders, and psychosis) may increase the likelihood of wandering. 8

Causes of wandering are not well understood. Some hypothesize wandering emerges from disconnection among brain regions responsible for visuospatial, motor, and memory functions. A positron-emission tomography (PET) study of 342 individuals with AD, 80 of whom were considered wanderers, found a distinct pattern of hypometabolism in the cingulum and supplementary motor areas among wanderers. Correlations between specific brain regions and the type of wandering (eg, pacing, lapping, or random) were also seen. 9

A relatively larger body of research informs psychosocial perspectives on wandering with 3 scenarios identified in which wandering behaviors commonly emerge, including 1) escape from an unfamiliar setting; 2) desire for social interaction; and 3) exercise behavior triggered by restlessness or lack of activity. Other factors that increase wandering behavior include lifelong low ability to tolerate stress, an individual’s belief that they are still employed at a job, and a repeated desire to search for people (eg, dead family members) or places (eg, a home where they no longer reside). 10

Managing Wandering

There is little empiric evidence to inform treatment approaches to wandering in dementia. Nonpharmaceutical interventions that promote “safe walking” instead of aimless wandering are preferred initial approaches. Several “low tech” options with low associated costs and negligible side effects have some evidence for use, including exercise programs, aromatherapy, placing murals and other paintings in front of exit doors, or hiding door handles. 11 More recently, the explosion of discrete and affordable wearable devices that have global positioning system (GPS) tracking ability have significantly expanded the number of “high-tech” options available to address elopement. These include GPS tagging, bed and door alarms, and surveillance systems. Few have been tested in prospective, placebo-controlled studies, however, making it hard to make firm conclusions regarding efficacy. 12 The ethical implications of using these technologies—including potential infringements on privacy, dignity, and autonomy of individuals—are seldom considered in clinical trials or clinical practice. 13

Considering the high prevalence and often deadly consequences associated with wandering, we offer a practical, algorithmic approach to wandering in dementia (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Algorithmic approach to wandering. Abbreviation: MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment. a Persons with dementia should never be left alone behind locked doors.

Click to view larger

Screening for Wandering

To screen for wandering behavior, we ask the following 2 questions of or about all persons with dementia:

1. Have they ever wandered away from their home?

2. Have they ever gotten lost while in public?

If either of these are responded to affirmatively, we make recommendations and stratify risk as described below. If both questions are responded to with “no,” we ask if they:

1. ever seem disoriented at home or in familiar places?

2. ever report a desire to go home even while at home?

3. become excessively nervous while in public?

4. talk about needing to fulfill prior work obligations?

5. ask about the whereabouts of past family or friends?

An affirmative answer to any of these 5 questions may indicate an increased risk for wandering. For those who wander or are at high risk for wandering we provide basic education, recommend increased diligence, and maximize behavioral strategies to improve orientation (eg, display a written calendar and/or a large digital clock with time and date and optimize use of cognitive-enhancing agents when appropriate).

Creating a Wandering Safety Plan

Once a wandering event has occurred, we recommend families develop a neighborhood awareness and safety plan. The Alzheimer’s Association’s website has excellent resources devoted toward developing this plan ( https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/stages-behaviors/wandering ). At a minimum, the safety plan should include notifying neighbors that the person has dementia, keeping a list of places they are likely to wander to, and having a recent photo readily available for emergency medical and other services. We also educate families about the initial steps to take if wandering occurs, including immediately searching areas favoring the direction of the dominant hand, focusing the search within 1.5 miles of the home, and calling 9-1-1 no more than 15 minutes after a person with dementia has been determined to be missing. Additional recommendations include obtaining medical identification jewelry, installing door alarms, and making locks inaccessible (ie, hiding them or placing them out of reach). Families should be encouraged to enroll in a safe return program (eg, MedicAlert, Project Lifesaver, or Silver Alert) if one is available in their area. It is important to note that people with dementia should never be locked by themselves inside a home.

Managing Risk by Stratified Wandering Type

Cluster analyses show people who wander can largely be grouped into 1 of 3 different types based on cognitive and behavioral characteristics. 14 These groupings are useful for tailoring interventions and can be identified for an individual with combined cognitive test scores and behavioral symptom profiles. We use the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) 15 and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory–Questionnaire (NPI-Q) 16 because they are relatively quick to administer while providing important information and can be simultaneously administered to caregivers (NPI-Q) and patients (MoCA). These assessments can be used to stratify patients as follows.

Group 1: High Cognitive Function, Low Behavioral Disturbances. Individuals who score greater than 15 on the MoCA and have 3 or fewer behavioral symptoms wander infrequently (<1 time/month) and often only in unfamiliar settings. Because wandering is usually triggered by unexpected stressors, the main goal for these individuals is to provide adequate supervision in unfamiliar settings. Those in this group may also still carry a mobile phone with several high-tech options (eg, GPS systems or “find my phone” apps) that may be beneficial.

Group 2: Low Cognitive Function, Low Behavioral Disturbances. Persons with lower cognitive test scores (eg, ≤10 on the MoCA) and fewer than 3 NPS may wander because of boredom or a lack of physical or cognitive stimulation. For this group, we recommend a companion caregiver or adult daycare program to engage the patient in enjoyable activities and incorporate supervised walks or exercise programs during the day. Individuals in this group may benefit from the creation of an outdoor area that may be explored safely.

Group 3: Low Cognitive Function, High Behavioral Disturbances. People in this group require the most proactive approaches because they are likely to be the most frequent wanderers and may be at highest risk for dangerous outcomes. Wandering in this group may be driven by delusions, particularly the persecutory type. 8 We recommend, as a first step, determining whether other factors such as pain, delirium, or intoxication may be contributing to the person’s NPS. If no additional etiologies can be clearly identified, comorbid NPS should be addressed with best clinical practices, borrowing heavily from psychiatry with the “therapeutic metaphor” (See Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia in this issue). Many in this group may require institutionalization or constant supervision from hired caregivers to prevent harm. Nonpharmacologic strategies recommended for this group include taping a 2-foot black threshold in front of each door to serve as a visual barrier, installing cameras and warning alarms for outward facing doors, and installing safety gates around the house.

Sundowning Frequency, Consequences & Causes

Sundowning is the term used to describe the emergence or intensification of NPS occurring in the early evening. This phenomenon, thought to be unique to people with dementia, has long been recognized by researchers and caregivers as being among the most challenging elements of dementia care. 17 Although most frequently seen in AD, sundowning has also frequently been observed in other forms of dementia. Sundowning is among the most common behavioral manifestations of dementia, with rates in institutionalized settings exceeding 80%. 18 The risk of sundowning increases in moderate and severe dementia and because of its close association with sunlight, is more common in the autumn and winter seasons. 19

The impact of sundowning on persons with dementia is immense. Sundowning is among the most common reasons for institutionalization and is associated with faster rates of cognitive decline and increased risk for wandering. 17 Sundowning also increases care partner stress, which, in turn, may increase risk for agitation in patients. 18

The causes of sundowning are likely multifactorial. Sundowning is commonly linked to alterations in circadian rhythms. 19 Autopsy studies of people who had AD show a disproportionate loss of neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which regulates the release of melatonin in response to light. 20 Other research links sundowning to reductions in cholinergic neurotransmission, 21 and at least 1 study showed increased levels of cortisol, which may suggest alterations of the entire hypothalamic-pituitary axis. 21 Sleep disruption, inadequate sunlight exposure, and disrupted routines increase the likelihood of sundowning. 17 Medications with anticholinergic properties and sedatives may also exacerbate sundowning.

Management of Sundowning

The Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold (PLST) model provides a framework for understanding and managing sundowning. 22 In this model, sundowning occurs because diurnal alterations in circadian rhythms temporally correlate with increases in pain, hunger, or fatigue that occur later in the day. Disruptions in emotional regulation emerge when a person’s ability to tolerate such stressors is exceeded.

As with wandering, there is little empiric evidence to guide pharmacologic management of sundowning. Melatonin has been studied in several open-label studies and case series with varying levels of success. 23 Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine reduce agitated behaviors, but have not been studied for management of sundowning. 24 Nonpharmacologic interventions (eg, eliminating daytime naps, increasing sunlight exposure, aerobic exercise, and playing music) can reduce sundowning, 17 but it is difficult to make firm conclusions about the efficacy of these measures because most have not been evaluated in prospective, placebo-controlled studies.

Analogous to headache management, approaches to sundowning can be broadly categorized as acute or preventive (Figure 2). Although preventive approaches may be more effective, caregivers may be able to reduce NPS associated with sundowning when it occurs.

Figure 2. Acute and preventative approaches to sundowning. Abbreviation: TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone.

Acute Management

The PLST model can be used to identify any and all triggers that may contribute to sundowning episodes. For a first or unusual episode, it is recommended that a targeted medical and laboratory evaluation including urine culture, complete blood count, drug toxicology, and levels of electrolytes, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and vitamin B 12 be obtained. During an episode, whenever possible, a quiet, well-lit environment should be provided. Aromatherapy and familiar music at a medium volume may also help reduce anxiety and agitation. For persons at risk of hurting themselves or others, a low-dose psychotropic medication (eg, trazodone 50 mg repeated 1 hour later followed by risperidone 0.5 mg) may be necessary.

Preventive Management

In our clinical experience, prevention strategies may reduce the severity and frequency of sundowning. The first step is to conduct a behavioral analysis of the sundowning behavior. We recommend a daily journal be maintained for at least 1 month to document the types of behavior (eg, agitation, anxiety, psychosis, and disorientation) that occur, time of onset, and any extenuating circumstances that may have contributed to episodes of sundowning. Care partners can also provide information regarding medication administration and sleeping behavior to inform the analysis. The health care professional should analyze the journal, looking for patterns and correlations with other factors (eg, shift changes at care homes or changes to daily routines). The journal can be supported by biometric data from wearable technologies that provide objective measures of physical activity and sleep, which can be helpful in tailoring both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches.

We also recommend increasing the amount of regular exercise and sunlight exposure, preferably in the early afternoon. Caregivers are advised to start playing soothing or familiar music approximately 1 hour before sundowning behavior typically starts. Any medication with Magellan Anticholinergic Risk Scale scores of 3 should be eliminated, which requires scrutiny of medication lists. 25 Optimization of cognitive-enhancing medication doses and timing administration such that mean peak plasma concentrations are reached 1 hour before a person’s typical time of sundowning behavior may be beneficial.

If problematic sundowning behavior still persists, we recommend melatonin supplementation at an initial dose of 10 mg taken at nighttime, followed by a weekly increase by 10 mg to a maximum dose of 30 mg. This regimen is instituted regardless of reported sleep quality. If symptoms persist, the next step is to target NPS based on the individual’s most recent NPI-Q profile. The mantra of “start low and go slow” should guide therapeutic interventions, waiting at least 2 weeks before altering doses. In general, antidepressants are preferred first steps unless safety concerns necessitate more proactive approaches.

1. Cummings J, Ritter A, Rothenberg K. Advances in management of neuropsychiatric syndromes in neurodegenerative diseases. Curr Psychiatry Rep . 2019;21(8):79.

2. Cipriani G, Lucetti C, Nuti A, Danti S. Wandering and dementia. Psychogeriatrics . 2014;14(2):135-142.

3. Algase DL, Moore DH, Vandeweerd C, Gavin-Dreschnack DJ. Mapping the maze of terms and definitions in dementia-related wandering. Aging Ment Health . 2007;11(6):686-698.

4. Petonito G, Muschert GW, Carr DC, Kinney JM, Robbins EJ, Brown JS. Programs to locate missing and critically wandering elders: a critical review and a call for multiphasic evaluation. Gerontologist. 2013;53(1):17-25.

5. Rowe MA, Vandeveer SS, Greenblum CA, et al. Persons with dementia missing in the community: is it wandering or something unique? BMC Geriatr. 2011;11:28.

6. Hope T, Keene J, McShane RH, Fairburn CG, Gedling K, Jacoby R. Wandering in dementia: a longitudinal study. Int Psychogeriatr . 2001;13(2):137-147.

7. Ballard CG, Mohan RNC, Bannister C, Handy S, Patel A. Wandering in dementia sufferers. Int J Geriat Psychiatry . 1991;6:611-614.

8. Klein DA, Steinberg M, Galik E, et al. Wandering behaviour in community-residing persons with dementia. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry . 1999;14(4):272-279.

9. Yang Y, Kwak YT. FDG PET findings according to wandering patterns of patients with drug-naïve Alzheimer’s disease. Dement Neurocogn Disord . 2018;17(3):90-99.

10. Hope RA, Fairburn CG. The nature of wandering in dementia: a community-based study. Int J Geriat Psychiatry . 1990;5(4):239-245.

11. Neubauer NA, Azad-Khaneghah P, Miguel-Cruz A, Liu L. What do we know about strategies to manage dementia-related wandering? A scoping review. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2018;10:615-628.

12. Neubauer NA, Lapierre N, Ríos-Rincón A, Miguel-Cruz A, Rousseau J, Liu L. What do we know about technologies for dementia-related wandering? A scoping review: Examen de la portée: Que savons-nous à propos des technologies de gestion de l’errance liée à la démence? Can J Occup Ther. 2018;85(3):196-208.

13. O’Neill D. Should patients with dementia who wander be electronically tagged? No. BMJ. 2013;346:f3606.

14. Logsdon RG, Teri L, McCurry SM, Gibbons LE, Kukull WA, Larson EB. Wandering: a significant problem among community-residing individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 1998;53(5):P294-P299.

15. Nasreddine ZS, Phillips NA, Bédirian V, et al. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA: a brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment [published correction appears in J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019;67(9):1991]. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005;53(4):695-699. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53221.x

16. Kaufer DI, Cummings JL, Ketchel P, et al. Validation of the NPI-Q, a brief clinical form of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci . 2000;12(2):233-239.

17. Canevelli M, Valletta M, Trebbastoni A, et al. Sundowning in dementia: clinical relevance, pathophysiological determinants, and therapeutic approaches. Front Med (Lausanne) . 2016;3:73.

18. Gallagher-Thompson D, Brooks JO 3rd, Bliwise D, Leader J, Yesavage JA. The relations among caregiver stress, “sundowning” symptoms, and cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1992;40(8):807-810.

19. Madden KM, Feldman B. Weekly, seasonal, and geographic patterns in health contemplations about sundown syndrome: an ecological correlational study. JMIR Aging 2019;2(1):e13302. doi:10.2196/13302

20. Wang JL, Lim AS, Chiang WY, et al. Suprachiasmatic neuron numbers and rest-activity circadian rhythms in older humans. Ann Neurol. 2015;78(2):317-322.

21. Weinshenker D. Functional consequences of locus coeruleus degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Alzheimer Res . 2008;5(3):342-345.

22. Smith M, Gerdner LA, Hall GR, Buckwalter KC. History, development, and future of the progressively lowered stress threshold: a conceptual model for dementia care. J Am Geriatr Soc . 2004;52(10):1755-1760.

23. Cohen-Mansfield J, Garfinkel D, Lipson S. Melatonin for treatment of sundowning in elderly persons with dementia - a preliminary study. Arch Gerontol Geriatr . 2000;31(1):65-76.

24. Gauthier S, Feldman H, Hecker J, et al. Efficacy of donepezil on behavioral symptoms in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. Int Psychogeriatr. 2002;14(4):389-404.

25. Rudolph JL, Salow MJ, Angelini MC, McGlinchey RE. The anticholinergic risk scale and anticholinergic adverse effects in older persons. Arch Intern Med . 2008;168(5):508-513.

TT reports no disclosures AR's work on this paper was supported by NIGMS P20GM109025

Taylor Thomas, BA

University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Medicine Las Vegas, NV

Aaron Ritter, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health Las Vegas, NV

Treating Dementias With Care Partners in Mind

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Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia

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Who's at risk?

Reduce the risk of wandering

Take action when wandering occurs, prepare your home, who's at risk for wandering.

Returning from a regular walk or drive later than usual.
Forgetting how to get to familiar places.
Talking about fulfilling former obligations, such as going to work
Trying or wanting to “go home” even when at home.
Becoming restless, pacing or making repetitive movements.
Having difficulty locating familiar places, such as the bathroom, bedroom or dining room.
Asking the whereabouts of past friends and family.
Acting as if doing a hobby or chore, but nothing gets done.
Appearing lost in a new or changed environment.
Becoming nervous or anxious in crowded areas, such as markets or restaurants.
Provide opportunities for the person to engage in structured, meaningful activities throughout the day
Identify the time of day the person is most likely to wander (for those who experience “ sundowning ,” this may be starting in the early evening.) Plan things to do during this time — activities and exercise may help reduce anxiety, agitation and restlessness.
Ensure all basic needs are met, including toileting, nutrition and hydration. Consider reducing – but not eliminating – liquids up to two hours before bedtime so the person doesn’t have to use and find the bathroom during the night.
Involve the person in daily activities, such as folding laundry or preparing dinner. Learn about creating a daily plan .
Reassure the person if he or she feels lost, abandoned or disoriented.
If the person is still safely able to drive, consider using a GPS device to help if they get lost.
If the person is no longer driving, remove access to car keys — a person living with dementia may not just wander by foot. The person may forget that he or she can no longer drive.
Avoid busy places that are confusing and can cause disorientation, such as shopping malls.
Assess the person’s response to new surroundings. Do not leave someone with dementia unsupervised if new surroundings may cause confusion, disorientation or agitation.
Decide on a set time each day to check in with each other.
Review scheduled activities and appointments for the day together.
If the care partner is not available, identify a companion for the person living with dementia as needed.
Consider alternative transportation options if getting lost or driving safely becomes a concern.

As the disease progresses and the risk for wandering increases, assess your individual situation to see which of the safety measures below may work best to help prevent wandering.

Home Safety Checklist

Download, print and keep the checklist handy to prevent dangerous situations and help maximize the person living with dementia’s independence for as long as possible.

Place deadbolts out of the line of sight, either high or low, on exterior doors. (Do not leave a person living with dementia unsupervised in new or changed surroundings, and never lock a person in at home.)
Use night lights throughout the home.
Cover door knobs with cloth the same color as the door or use safety covers.
Camouflage doors by painting them the same color as the walls or covering them with removable curtains or screens.
Use black tape or paint to create a two-foot black threshold in front of the door. It may act as a visual stop barrier.
Install warning bells above doors or use a monitoring device that signals when a door is opened.
Place a pressure-sensitive mat in front of the door or at the person's bedside to alert you to movement.
Put hedges or a fence around the patio, yard or other outside common areas.
Use safety gates or brightly colored netting to prevent access to stairs or the outdoors.
Monitor noise levels to help reduce excessive stimulation.
Create indoor and outdoor common areas that can be safely explored.
Label all doors with signs or symbols to explain the purpose of each room.
Store items that may trigger a person’s instinct to leave, such as coats, hats, pocketbooks, keys and wallets.
Do not leave the person alone in a car.
Consider enrolling the person living with dementia in a wandering response service.
Ask neighbors, friends and family to call if they see the person wandering, lost or dressed inappropriately.
Keep a recent, close-up photo of the person on hand to give to police, should the need arise.
Know the person’s neighborhood. Identify potentially dangerous areas near the home, such as bodies of water, open stairwells, dense foliage, tunnels, bus stops and roads with heavy traffic.
Create a list of places the person might wander to, such as past jobs, former homes, places of worship or a favorite restaurant.

When someone with dementia is missing

Begin search-and-rescue efforts immediately. Many individuals who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they disappeared.

Start search efforts immediately. When looking, consider whether the individual is right- or left-handed — wandering patterns generally follow the direction of the dominant hand.
Begin by looking in the surrounding vicinity — many individuals who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they disappeared.
Check local landscapes, such as ponds, tree lines or fence lines — many individuals are found within brush or brier.
If applicable, search areas the person has wandered to in the past.
If the person is not found within 15 minutes, call 911 to file a missing person’s report. Inform the authorities that the person has dementia.

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The Wandering Mind: How the Brain Allows Us to Mentally Wander Off to Another Time and Place

A unique human characteristic is our ability to mind wander—these are periods of time when our attention drifts away from the task-at-hand to focus on thoughts that are unrelated to the task. Mind wandering has some benefits, such as increased creativity, but it also has some negative consequences, such as mistakes in the task we are supposed to be performing. Interestingly, we spend up to half of our waking hours mind wandering. How does the brain help us accomplish that? Research suggests that when we mind wander, our responses to information from the external world around us are disrupted. In other words, our brain’s resources are shifted away from processing information from the external environment and redirected to our internal world, which allows us to mentally wander off to another time and place. Even though we pay less attention to the external world during mind wandering, our ability to detect unexpected events in our surrounding environment is preserved. This suggests that we are quite clever about what we ignore or pay attention to in the external environment, even when we mind wander.

How Do Scientists Define Mind Wandering?

Imagine this: you are sitting in a classroom on a sunny day as your science teacher enthusiastically tells you what our brain is capable of doing. Initially, you pay close attention to what the teacher is saying. But the sound of the words coming out of her mouth gradually fade away as you notice your stomach growling and you begin to think about that delicious ice cream you had last night. Have you ever caught yourself mind wandering in similar situations, where your eyes are fixed on your teacher, friends, or parents, but your mind has secretly wandered off to another time and place? You may be recalling the last sports game you watched, or fantasizing about going to the new amusement park this upcoming weekend, or humming your favorite tune that you just cannot get out of your head. This experience is what scientists call mind wandering, which is a period of time when we are focused on things that are not related to the ongoing task or what is actually going on around us (as shown in Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 - Real-world example of on-task and mind wandering states among students in a classroom.

Figure 1 - Real-world example of on-task and mind wandering states among students in a classroom.
In a science class in which the teacher asks a question about the brain, some students may be focused on what is being taught, while others may be thinking about yesterday’s basketball tournament, humming their favorite tune, or thinking about getting ice cream after school. The students thinking about the brain during class would be considered to be “on task,” while students thinking about things unrelated to the brain would be considered to be “mind wandering.”

Our Tendency to Mind Wander

Humans on average spend up to half of their waking hours mind wandering. There are differences across individuals in their tendency to mind wander and many factors that affect this tendency. For instance, older adults on average tend to mind wander less than younger adults. Also, individuals who are often sad or worried mind wander more frequently compared with individuals who are happy and have nothing to worry about. We also mind wander more when we perform tasks that we are used to doing, compared with when we perform novel and challenging tasks. There are also different types of mind wandering. For example, we may sometimes mind wander on purpose when we are bored with what we are currently doing. Other times, our mind accidentally wanders off without us noticing.

What are the Pros and Cons of Mind Wandering?

Since we spend so much time mind wandering, does this mean that mind wandering is good for us or not? There are certainly benefits to mind wandering. For example, one of the things the mind does when it wanders is to make plans about the future. In fact, we are more likely to make plans when we mind wander than we are to fantasize about unrealistic situations. Planning ahead is a good use of time as it allows us to efficiently carry out our day-to-day tasks, such as finishing homework, practicing soccer, and preparing for a performance. When mind wandering, we are also likely to reflect upon ourselves. This process of thinking about how we think, behave, and interact with others around us is a crucial part of our self-identity. Mind wandering has also been tied to creative problem-solving. There are times when we get stuck on a challenging math problem or feel uninspired to paint or make music, and research suggests that taking a break from thinking about these problems and letting the mind wander off to another topic may eventually lead to an “aha” moment, in which we come up with a creative solution or idea.

However, mind wandering can also have negative outcomes. For example, mind wandering in class means you miss out on what is being taught, and mind wandering while doing your homework may result in mistakes. Taken to an extreme, people who are diagnosed with depression constantly engage in their own thoughts about their problems or other negative experiences. In contrast, individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder who continually change their focus of attention may have a hard time completing a task. Taken together, whether mind wandering is good or bad depends on when we mind wander and what we mind wander about [ 1 ].

Scientific Measures of Mind Wandering

If you were to conduct an experiment, how would you measure mind wandering? Scientists have come up with several methods, one of which is called experience sampling . As research volunteers are doing a computer task in a laboratory, or as they are doing chores in their day-to-day lives, they are asked at random intervals to report their attention state. That is, they have to stop what they are doing and ask themselves what they were thinking about in the moment: “Was I on-task?” (that is, was I paying attention to the task-at-hand) or “Was I mind wandering?” (that is, did my mind wander off to another time and place). Therefore, experience sampling samples the volunteer’s in-the-moment experience, allowing scientists to understand how frequently people mind wander and how mind wandering affects the way people interact with their environments.

Scientists also study mind wandering by recording electroencephalogram (EEG) , a test that measures the electrical activity of the brain. This electrical activity, which looks like wavy lines during an EEG recording (see Figure 2 , Step 2), is observed in all parts of the brain and is present throughout the day, even when we are asleep. Measurements of the brain’s electrical activity help scientists understand how the brain allows us to think, speak, move, and do all the fun and creative and challenging things that we do! In order to record EEG, scientists place special sensors called electrodes on the scalp of a volunteer ( Figure 2 , Step 1), with each electrode recording activity of numerous neurons (brain cells) in the area under the electrode ( Figure 2 , Step 2). Scientists then examine the brain’s activity in response to images (such as a picture of a basketball in Figure 2 ) or sounds presented to the volunteer. The scientists present the same sound or picture to the volunteer multiple times and take the average of the brain’s activity in response to the image or sound, because that method results in a better EEG signal. The averaged brain activity produces something called an event-related potential (ERP) waveform that contains several high and low points, called peaks and troughs ( Figure 2 , Step 3), which represent the brain’s response to the image or sound over time. Some commonly seen peaks and troughs are assigned specific names as ERP components. For instance, a peak that occurs around 300 ms (only 3/10 of a second!) following the presentation of a picture or a sound is often called the P300 ERP component. Based on decades of research, scientists have shown that these ERP components reflect our brain’s response to events we see or hear. The size of the ERP components (measured in voltage) reflects how strong the response is, while the timing of these ERP components (measured in milliseconds) reflects the timing of the response. Now, PAUSE! I would like you to ask yourself, “Was I paying full attention to the previous sentence just now, or was I thinking about something else?” This is an example of experience sampling. And as you may realize now, when we are asked about our current attention state, we can quite accurately report it.

Figure 2 - Recording electroencephalogram (EEG) in humans.

Figure 2 - Recording electroencephalogram (EEG) in humans.
Step 1. To record EEG, electrodes are attached to a cap that is placed on the scalp of a research volunteer. Step 2. Each wavy line represents the amount of activity recorded by each electrode. Research volunteers are usually presented with some images (e.g., a basketball) or sounds a number of times while their brain activity is being recorded. Step 3. Scientists calculate the average EEG activity across multiple presentations of the same picture/sound. This results in an Event-Related Potential (ERP) waveform, where time (in milliseconds) is plotted on the x-axis and the voltage (in microvolts, indicating the size of the ERP components) is plotted on the y-axis. On the x-axis, 0 indicates the time at which the stimulus (e.g., image of a basketball) was presented. The ERP waveforms contain multiple high and low points, called peaks and troughs. Some of the peaks and troughs are given specific labels. For example, the peak that occurs around 300 ms after an image is presented is often called the P300 ERP component.

What Happens to Our Interaction with the Environment When We Mind Wander?

Scientists have proposed an idea—called the “Decoupling Hypothesis”—stating that during mind wandering, the brain’s resources are shifted away from our surrounding environment and are redirected to our internal world in order to support our thoughts [ 2 ]. This hypothesis assumes that the brain has a certain amount of resources, which means that once mind wandering has used the resources it needs to focus on our thoughts, only a limited amount of brain resources remains for responding to our surrounding environment.

To test this hypothesis, scientists combined experience sampling with EEG to explore how mind wandering affects our interaction with the environment. One of the first studies to test this hypothesis asked research volunteers to categorize a series of images by responding whenever they saw rare targets (e.g., images of soccer balls) among a whole bunch of non-targets (e.g., images of basketballs). Throughout the task, EEG was recorded from the volunteers, and they were also asked at random times to report their attention state as “on task” or “mind wandering.” Based on their EEGs and experience sampling reports, scientists found that the brain’s response to the non-targets was reduced during periods of mind wandering compared with periods of being on task [ 3 ]. This can be seen in Figure 3A , where there is a smaller P300 ERP component during mind wandering (the green lines) compared with the P300 ERP component during the time when the volunteer was on task (the gray line). The data suggest that the brain’s response to events happening in our environment is disrupted when we engage in mind wandering.

Figure 3 - Mind wandering affects our ability to process events in the environment.

Figure 3 - Mind wandering affects our ability to process events in the environment.
A. The brain’s processing of external events (e.g., images of basketballs and soccer balls) is reduced during periods of mind wandering. This is indicated by the smaller P300 ERP component during mind wandering (green lines) compared with on-task (gray line). The ERP waveform was recorded from the electrode site circled in red, which is located on the back of the head. B. Mind wandering impairs our ability to monitor our own performance, making it more likely that we will make mistakes. This is shown by the smaller feedback error-related negativity ERP component, a trough occurring around 250 ms, for mind wandering (green line) compared with on-task (gray line). The ERP waveform was recorded from the electrode site circled in red, which is located near the front of the head.

Have you ever noticed that if your mind wanders while you are doing homework, you are more likely to make mistakes? Many experiments have also shown that this happens! This led some scientists to question what is happening in the brain when we make mistakes. They specifically measured something called the feedback error-related negativity ERP component, which gives scientists an idea of how closely we are monitoring the accuracy of our responses when we perform a task. The scientists found that the feedback error-related negativity ERP component was reduced during mind wandering compared with on-task periods, as shown in Figure 3B . This suggests that mind wandering negatively affects our ability to monitor our performance and adjust our behavior, making it more likely that we will make mistakes [ 4 ]. All of these studies provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that when the mind wanders, our responses to what is going on in the environment around us are disrupted.

Does Mind Wandering Impair all Responses to the Environment?

At this point, you may wonder: are all responses to the world around us impaired during mind wandering? This seems unlikely, because we are usually quite capable of responding to the external environment even when we mind wander. For example, even though we may mind wander a lot while walking, most of us rarely bump into things as we walk from place to place. A group of scientists asked the same question and looked specifically at whether we can still pay attention to our environment at some level even when we are mind wandering. To test this question, research volunteers were asked to read a book while they were listening to some tones unrelated to the book. Most of the tones were identical, but among these identical tones was rare and different tone that naturally grabbed the attention of the volunteers. These scientists found that the volunteers paid just as much attention to this rare tone when they were mind wandering compared to when they were on task. In other words, our minds appear to be quite smart about which attention processes to disrupt and which processes to preserve during mind wandering. Under normal circumstances, our minds ignore some of the ordinary events in our environment in order for us to maintain a train of thought. However, when an unexpected event occurs in the environment, one that is potentially dangerous, our brain knows to shift our attention to the external environment so that we can respond to the potentially dangerous event. Imagine walking down the street and thinking about the movie you want to watch this weekend. While doing this, you may not clearly perceive the noise of the car engines or the pedestrians chatting around you. However, if a car suddenly honks loudly, you will hear the honk immediately, which will snap you out of your mind wandering. Therefore, even when the mind is wandering, we are still clever about what we ignore and what we pay attention to in the external environment, allowing us to smartly respond to the unusual, or potentially dangerous, events that may require us to focus our attention back on the external environment.

In summary, the brain appears to support mind wandering by disrupting some of the brain processes that are involved in responding to our surrounding external environment. This ability is important for protecting our thoughts from external distractions and allowing us to fully engage in mind wandering. We are only beginning to understand this mysterious experience of thinking, and scientists are actively researching what goes on in the brain when we mind wander. Increasing our knowledge about mind wandering will help us better understand how to take advantage of its benefits while avoiding the problems linked to mind wandering.

Mind Wandering : ↑ Periods of time when an individual is thinking of something that is unrelated to the task he/she is performing.

Experience Sampling : ↑ A scientific method in which a person is asked to report their experience; that is, whether he or she is paying attention or mind wandering at random intervals in the laboratory setting or in the real world.

Electroenceph-Alogram (EEG—“elec-tro-en-sef-a-lo-gram”) : ↑ Electrical activity of many neurons in the brain that is measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.

Event-Related Potential (ERPs) : ↑ Peaks or troughs in the averaged EEG signal that reflect the brain’s responses to events we see or hear.

P300 : ↑ An ERP component that typically peaks around 300 ms (therefore “300”) after a person sees a picture or hears a sound. It reflects the brain’s processing of the information that is seen or heard. an ERP component that typically peaks around 300 ms (therefore “300”) after a person sees a picture or hears a sound. It reflects the brain’s processing of the information that is seen or heard.

Feedback Error-Related Negativity : ↑ An ERP component that reflects how much a person is monitoring the accuracy of his/her performance.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

[1] ↑ Smallwood, J., and Andrews-Hanna, J. 2013. Not all minds that wander are lost: the importance of a balanced perspective on the mind-wandering state. Front. Psychol. 4:441. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00441

[2] ↑ Smallwood, J. 2013. Distinguishing how from why the mind wanders: a process-occurrence framework for self-generated mental activity. Psychol. Bull. 139(2013):519–35. doi:10.1037/a0030010

[3] ↑ Smallwood, J., Beach, E., Schooler, J. W., and Handy, T. C. 2008. Going AWOL in the brain: mind wandering cortical analysis of external events. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 20:458–69. doi:10.1162/jocn.2008.20037

[4] ↑ Kam, J. W. Y., Dao, E., Blinn, P., Krigolson, O. E., Boyd, L. A., and Handy, T. C. 2012. Mind wandering and motor control: off-task thinking disrupts the online adjustment of behavior. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 6:329. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00329

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About autism & wandering.

Wandering/elopement is the tendency for an individual to leave the safety of a responsible person’s care or safe area, which may result in potential harm or injury. This might include running off from adults at school or in the community, leaving the classroom without permission, or exiting the house when the family is not aware. This behavior is considered common and short-lived in toddlers but may persist or re-emerge in those with autism.

According to research, nearly half of children with autism are at risk for wandering away from a safe setting. Because people with autism are vulnerable to dangerous situations including drowning, traffic incidents, becoming trapped hot cars, etc., it’s important to take critical precautions and be aware that drowning fatalities remain a leading cause of wandering-related death, along with traffic injury.

Wandering/elopement is typically a form of communication, often occurring to get to something of interest or away from something bothersome, usually noise, commotion, fears/phobias, and demands. These impulses and incidents can increase with added anxiety and stress, especially if the individual has challenges with coping, calming, or regulating their emotions.

Early signs of exit-seeking behavior can start in toddlerhood. They include social/demand avoidance, moving to a different area of building or home unnoticed, bolting when upset, and seeking out water or other quiet places.

Quick Facts

According to a study in Pediatrics , nearly half of children with autism have a tendency to wander/bolt from safe settings
More than one third of children with autism who wander/elope are never or rarely able to communicate their name, address, or phone number
According to a study by NAA, accidental drowning accounts for 71% of lethal outcomes, followed by traffic injuries at 18%
Other dangers include dehydration; heat stroke; hypothermia; falls; physical restraint; encounters with strangers
Increased risks are associated with autism severity

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Always Remember: If a Child or Adult with Autism is Ever Missing, Call 911 & Search Water First!

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Prevention Checklist

Secure home, outdoor gates, garage door
Use simple window/door alarms, baby monitors
Identify & Address Triggers
Teach Safety/Coping & Pursue Forms of Communication
Enroll in swimming lessons
Provide safe-space ‘escape’ alternative, such as a tent or quiet nook within the home
Secure wearable identification and/or locative technology
Alert relatives, school & neighbors
Alert local first responders
Speak with your child’s doctor
Create Emergency Plan
Stay extra vigilant during transitions, parties, vacations, new moves, visits, & noise/stress/ commotion

NAA Studies

NAA’s Six-Year Study: Mortality & Risk in ASD Wandering/Elopement

NAA’s 2012 White Paper: Lethal Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorders – Wandering/Elopement

For other important information and resources, visit our partners at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at missingkids.org

Download and print wandering resources in Spanish

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Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of wander in English

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wander verb ( MOVE AROUND )

walk The baby has just learned to walk.
stride She strode purposefully up to the desk and demanded to speak to the manager.
march He marched right in to the office and demanded to see the governor.
stroll We strolled along the beach.
wander She wandered from room to room, not sure of what she was looking for.
amble She ambled down the street, looking in shop windows.
crawl There'd been a bad accident on the motorway and traffic was crawling.
trundle Lorries trundle through the narrow lanes.
creep He crept downstairs, hardly making any noise.
trudge They trudged wearily through the snow.
stroll We spent the afternoon strolling around Budapest.
amble He ambled over to the window.
Don't worry if you lose hold of the reins - the horse won't wander off.
He wandered around, clearing up in a desultory way.
We wandered along the shore , stepping over the flotsam that had washed up in the night .
We wandered through the beautifully proportioned rooms of the Winter Palace.
She was wandering around in a daze this morning .
His eyes wandered over the posters adorning the walls .
dumbwalking

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

wander verb ( SUBJECT )

bury the lede idiom
candy coating
candy-coated
circumlocution
circumlocutory
get on to/onto something
gloss over something
go off on a tangent idiom
prevaricate
tiptoe around something/someone
unexpressed

Related word

We had a very pleasant wander around the village .
I took a wander through the supermarket aisles to see what they had.

wander | American Dictionary

Translations of wander.

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to move something by pulling it along a surface, usually the ground

Treasure troves and endless supplies (Words and phrases meaning ‘source’)

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Where Is My Mind…? The Link between Mind Wandering and Prospective Memory

Jean-charles girardeau.

1 Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau et Cognition (LMC2 UR7536), Institut de Psychologie, Université Paris Cité, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France

Marco Sperduti

Philippe blondé.

2 Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (LAPSCO), Université Clermont Auvergne, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France

Pascale Piolino

Associated data.

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Mind wandering (MW) is a common feature of the human experience occurring when our attention shifts from the task at hand to inner thoughts. MW seems to be often future-oriented and could be used to help people to carry out their planned actions (Prospective Memory PM). Here, we tested the link between MW and the ability to perform PM intentions. We assessed MW and PM over 15 days using experience-sampling probes via mobile phone (226 participants) associated with a naturalistic PM task. We confirmed that MW occupies a significant proportion of our mental activity (40%). This time seems to be mainly used to project ourselves into the future (64%), whether to anticipate and imagine the long term (20%) or to plan daily obligations (44%). Intriguingly, only past-oriented thoughts (9%) predict the PM performance. We discuss the possible functional role played by MW in maintaining intentions in mind.

1. Introduction

While reading the present paper, you may experience a situation in which your eyes pass over the lines of a paragraph, but your mind is focused elsewhere. Hence, although you are physically reading, you are not paying attention. This phenomenon, known as mind wandering (MW; [ 1 , 2 ], is a fairly common experience occupying between 30% and 50% of our waking life [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. The core feature of MW is an attentional disengagement from processing the environment to focus on internal thoughts. Thus, when MW, external stimuli fade from conscious perception in favor of internal ones, a phenomenon called “perceptual decoupling” [ 6 ]. Although this anecdotal description of MW is easily relatable, its operationalization and theoretical definition have been heavily debated [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Some of the main characteristics used to characterize MW are task-unrelated thoughts [ 2 , 10 ], stimulus-independent thoughts [ 11 , 12 ], or a dynamic and unconstrained flow of thoughts [ 13 ]. Furthermore, it has been suggested to distinguish two forms of MW: spontaneous and voluntary [ 14 , 15 ]. The former corresponds to an involuntary switch from a task-related focus to a task-unrelated one, while the latter represents a conscious choice to stop paying attention to the task at hand. This distinction highlights two different causes for MW: spontaneous MW seems to be the consequence of executive control failure [ 16 ] and is associated with high distractibility [ 17 , 18 ], while voluntary MW seems more tied to a diminished motivation [ 19 , 20 ].

Whichever definition is used, the core of MW is an attentional disengagement from the environment, which is not a phenomenon without consequences. Several reviews underlie how MW can impact the functioning of various cognitive processes [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. The overall consensus is that it has a broadly negative impact, hindering focused attention [ 25 , 26 ], working memory capacity [ 27 , 28 ] and episodic memory encoding [ 29 ] to name a few. However, it would be curious if such a prevalent phenomenon served no purpose. Some experimental results suggest that MW can also lead to positive outcomes [ 21 ]. One of the more intriguing is that particular instances of MW could help improve memory encoding [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Notably, stimulus-dependent thoughts (i.e., thoughts associated with an environmental cue but not related to task resolution) can facilitate encoding by allowing for extra elaboration of the stimulus [ 31 , 32 ]. In addition to memory encoding, it has also been suggested that MW may also enhance memory consolidation. Indeed, recalling a memory has been shown to result in a re-encoding of the event, promoting its long-term consolidation [ 33 , 34 ]. Therefore, MW could be instrumental in the retention and distinctiveness of long-term memories by regularly retrieving these memories and re-encoding them [ 35 ]. Moreover, one likely adaptive function of MW could be to disengage cognition from the here and now to envision future goals. Several studies have reported that MW is mostly future-oriented and directed toward completing future self-relevant goals [ 12 , 36 , 37 ]. Accordingly, it has been suggested that MW is characterized by an autobiographical bias [ 36 ] and could be triggered by the current concerns of an individual [ 38 ]. More precisely, future-oriented MW would serve more the successful completion of particularly concrete goals (i.e., planned intentions), rather than less concrete episodic future thinking [ 39 ]. Surprisingly, very few studies have directly tested the link between the propensity to MW and prospective memory (PM).

PM consists of remembering to carry out an action that was previously planned, at some point in the future [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. From planning to execution of an intention, the whole PM process is underpinned by various cognitive processes and requires attentional and executive resources [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. The triggering of PM intention recovery, involving either automatic or controlled processes or both [ 42 , 48 ], could be triggered by external cues ( event-based ) or can be auto-initiated ( time-based ) when the action must be performed after a specific time, without external help. Unlike retrospective memory, on which PM relies in part, PM does not simply store memories or knowledge per se , but the intention to perform an action at the appropriate time or context. This means that the PM encoding process is twofold, including the formation of an action (e.g., I have to buy bread) and the moment at which it must be executed (e.g., when coming home to work). In between, the intention is set in the background for a more or less long period. During this delay, ongoing activities may capture attention and interfere with the execution of the PM intentions, both tasks relying on the same processes [ 49 ]. So, opportunities to complete intended tasks often require multitasking [ 50 , 51 ]. Yet, how people manage the competition between PM and ongoing-task demands could partly be under metacognitive control [ 52 ].

As searching the PM target may rely on primarily controlled or automatic processing, it is important that one deploys their attentional resources strategically. Metacognition would explain the observed variation in PM costs by assuming that the awareness of PM-demand controls to what extent people rely on strategic versus spontaneous PM retrieval. The metacognitive top-down control process of PM could be based both on metacognitive expectations about the PM task and good metacognitive awareness of contextual PM demands [ 53 ]. Thus, participants having good metacognitive awareness of the situations would better coordinate PM monitoring [ 48 , 54 ]. This is precisely what Seli et al. [ 55 ] recently reported through the observation of a positive link between the rate of self-caught MW and the monitoring of PM time-based goal, highlighting a plausible common monitoring system for the content of consciousness in general and PM intentions. In the same vein, Girardeau et al. [ 56 ] compared the effect of mindfulness and an MW induction, two supposedly opposed cognitive states, on PM. Intriguingly, they did not report any difference between the two conditions on PM performance, even if the two inductions subjectively had a differential effect on the participants’ cognitive state. It must be noted that the MW induction required participants to mind wander voluntarily. Intentional episodes of MW have been strongly associated with planning and the awareness of the initiation of the episode of MW, resulting in a meta-cognitive awareness of its occurrence [ 15 ]. Given the link between meta-awareness and PM, one likely explanation is that MW could have had a similar beneficial effect on PM performance via a transient increase in PM monitoring. All these data seem to fit well with the theoretical account [ 9 , 55 , 57 ] stating that meta-awareness includes a monitoring system intermittently “checking” consciousness, thereby allowing people to consider the relation of the current contents of consciousness and goals. This description fits particularly well with PM tasks.

So far, MW has been mainly associated with attentional and memory failures. A general finding now emphasizes the existence of a “prospective bias” in MW as off-task thoughts are more frequently categorized as being about the future. If disengaging from a primary task can help one to accomplish a desired future goal, then these attentional shifts could, in fact, be constructive. MW episodes would thus be the given opportunity for a latent PM goal, according to attentional demand, to become active in the mind and to be accomplished. Furthermore, the possible common monitoring system that would monitor consciousness content and both PM goal and ongoing task progress [ 9 ], would thus maintain a balance between the content of consciousness and goals [ 57 ]. This ability to monitor would highly depend on individual differences in metacognitive mind-wandering abilities and individual differences in the ability to maintain continuous goal monitoring [ 55 ]. Lastly, people make implicit metacognitive judgments about how difficult the target condition will be to detect and alter their attentional allocation accordingly [ 58 ]. For this reason, it would be relevant to study if the MW dimensions, content or source, influence this metacognitive perception, and in turn, PM performance.

Even if this has been widely theorized that letting your mind wander could offer advantages for retrieval of PM intentions, to our knowledge, except for Girardeau et al. [ 56 ] who used MW as a control condition in a study on mindfulness, no study has investigated the direct link between the nature of MW and PM in a single study. Therefore, the objective of this study, using combining experience-sampling via mobile, was to investigate the link between the content and the type of MW and the ability to perform PM intentions. More precisely, we wanted to study the link between what individuals do, what they think about while doing it, and their ability to respond to a naturalistic PM task. We will then observe whether the tendency towards voluntary or spontaneous MW, the temporal orientation of MW (past/future), and the interaction between these features predict the execution of prospective intentions. Based on respective research on MW and PM [ 4 , 55 , 59 , 60 ], we argue that individuals not only spend more time thinking about the future rather than the past, and this deliberately, but that these future thoughts are directly related to the planning and execution of PM intentions. Additionally, engaging in a deliberate form of prospective-oriented MW will lead to better PM performance compared to engaging in a spontaneous prospective-oriented one.

To answer this question, the use of experience-sampling, via smartphone technology, offers a double advantage. First, it allows including a large number of participants and the assessment of MW under ecological conditions [ 4 ]. Secondly, it is particularly useful for investigating spontaneous PM-related thoughts over long retention intervals outside the laboratory, more specifically for addressing the question of whether prospective bias in MW predicts concurrent completion of a PM task. We restricted our investigation to time-based PM for methodological and theoretical reasons. Firstly, event-based tasks are harder to operationalize and control in an ecological setting. Secondly, the theoretical link between MW and time-based PM seems best supported by the previously mentioned study [ 55 ]. Naturalistic methodologies to study MW have long combined experience-sampling and thought probes methods [ 5 , 12 , 61 , 62 ]. In contrast, the amount of research using naturalistic PM assessments is relatively modest. Nevertheless, PM research seems to be moving towards naturalistic PM tasks [ 59 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ], certainly because of the diffusion of mobile devices, in particular smartphones. These PM experience-sampling studies are inspired by those conducted to study the MW. The novelty of our methodology was to combine the long-lasting tradition of MW experience-sampling methods and the renewal of PM naturalistic tasks.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. procedure, 2.1.1. participants.

Three hundred and forty-two participants took part in this study. The exclusion criteria concerned all persons under 18 years of age and over 65 years of age, non-French speaking and with a neurological or psychiatric history. We had to deal with an important loss of subjects due to a variety of reasons such as withdrawal, incomplete identification of subjects or technical bugs (11 participants excluded). In addition to this experimental mortality, we excluded all participants who completed less than half of the thought probes (85 participants excluded). Lastly, PM is a cognitive function whose performance declines with aging. Typically, the development of PM abilities follows an inverted U-shaped curve that results in an increase in performance until age 20, followed by a gradual decrease throughout adulthood, especially after age 65 [ 67 ]. So, we exclude participants over 65 years old in order to avoid any experimental bias related to age. After data cleaning, this study concerned 226 participants (mean age 37.85 ± 12.88; 180 female, 45 male, 1 other).

All participants were recruited by advertisement on various social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Risc (Relay of information on the sciences of cognition). Recruitment was performed via a web link provided in the study announcement. The webpage behind the link contained all the information concerning the nature and objectives of the study, its conduct and its potential risks. It also included the declaration of consent and a shared liability clause. Lastly, before the end of the subscription, participants were submitted to a brief anamnesis to collect socio-demographic information (age, gender, education, meditation expertise).

This project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Université Paris Cité. The different tools used in this study met the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

2.1.2. Materials

All surveys were created and administered using LimeSurvey, a free and open-source online survey application. Text message signals were sent to participants’ phones (each containing a link to a survey) using Sendinblue, a French Digital/Marketing Automation platform.

2.2. Overall Conduct

The study took place over 15 days and was divided into three parts ( Figure 1 ). To start (Day 1), participants received the first text message, containing a link to the thought probing phase instructions and the MPMI-s. During the 1st and 3rd parts (Days 2 to 3, and 13 to 14), devoted to mind wandering assessment (Phase I— at the beginning and Phase III— at the end of the study ), participants received a series of text messages inviting them to join an online questionnaire, containing 7 multiple answer questions. Just before Phase II begins (Day 5), participants received a single text message with a link to the prospective memory phase procedure instructions (Phase II). In particular, the procedure contained the link that they used to report the execution of their PM task. During Phase II (Days 6, 7, 8, 9), participants had to perform the same PM task every day over 4 days (Phase II— Prospective Memory Phase ). Before starting Phase III (Day 12), a single text message containing a link to a reminder of the thought probes phase procedure instructions (identical to Phase I) was sanded to the participants to inform them that it will begin the day following receipt of this message. A final text message was sanded to the participants at the end of the experiment (Day 15), containing a link to a final survey, where they were suggested to complete two last questionnaires about mind wandering dispositional (MWQ) and anxiety/depression (PHQ4), and provided with additional information on the objectives of the study. Some days are missing in this procedure (4, 10, 11), this is mainly due to the prohibition of cold calling on Sundays. In consequence, once registered, participants never started the first part of the study until the following Thursday, so that no phase was interrupted by a day off.

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Overall conduct of the study process.

2.3. Experience Sampling

2.3.1. mind wandering assessment.

During Phases I and III, corresponding to the thought probes phases (Mind wandering), six text messages were sent each day, bringing the total number of possible surveys to 24 per participant ( Table 1 ). Text messages occurred pseudo-randomly between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., with the constraint that two probes could not be delivered with a delay shorter than 1 h. We intentionally kept the number of surveys low enough to not be considered a burden, and more importantly, so participants would not be thinking about the study all the time. A minimum of 12 completed surveys was required to be included in the subsequent analysis. Participants were encouraged to respond immediately upon seeing the SMS; however, should they find themselves in the middle of an important or delicate activity, such as driving a car, for example, they will be asked not to take the survey. By using these procedures, we sought to minimize the number of incomplete surveys, without requiring participants to rely too much on their long-term memory. For each survey, questions remained in the same order ( Table 2 ).

Mind wandering’s probes: Descriptive Statistics on 226 participants.

Mind wandering’s probes: Survey questions and their responses and coding.

Though we were primarily interested in the frequency of thoughts related to PM, special care was taken not to bias participants, and each of the seven questions was given equal consideration, emphasis, and explanation.

Each participant received a total of 24 thought probes (4 × 6). For each probe, the participant had the choice between Focus (on his ongoing task) or Mind wandering (declined in detail, i.e. , episodic future thinking (EFT), Planning, episodic past thinking (EPT), Imagination, Nothing ). For each participant, we calculated an overall mind wandering frequency by dividing the number of responses off-task (MW) by the total number of probes answered by the participant (Focus and MW). We then applied the same calculation to compute the frequency of each content of mind wandering: episodic future thinking (EFT), Planning, episodic past thinking (EPT), Imagination, Nothing . In the same way, we computed the frequency of each type of mind wandering: spontaneous , external , voluntary .

2.3.2. Prospective Memory Assessment

During the 4 days of Phase II, corresponding to the prospective memory assessment, participants were invited to perform the same action every day (click on a link at 3:30 p.m.). The aim here is to measure the time-based capacities. We explicitly asked them to refrain from using external memory aids (for example, a phone notification) and instead try to implement the intention using only their “natural memory”. At the target time, participants had to go to an online survey, thus signaling the execution of this action, and had to answer 5 questions examining the context of recalling the intention ( Table 3 ).

Prospective memory survey: questions and responses.

We considered as correct responses those given within a time window of 1 h (30 min before and 30 min after) around the target time. We then divided each of these scores by 4 (the total PM actions) to obtain a correct response, an incorrect response and an omission ratio.

2.3.3. Questionnaires

We assessed our participants’ prospective memory abilities and strategy use with the short version of the Metacognitive Prospective Memory Inventory (MPMI-s—[ 68 ]). It consists of three 5-point Likert response scales ranging from 1 (Rarely) to 5 (Often), with eight items each and evaluating individuals’ perceptions of their own prospective memory abilities (e.g., “If I’ve borrowed something from someone for a while, I remember to give it back to that person the next time we see each other”), their frequency of use of internal prospective memory strategies to help themselves remembering (e.g., “In my mind I make a list of things that I still have to complete”), and external prospective memory strategies to better remember their intentions (e.g., “I write shopping lists”). In each scale, scored on 8 points, higher scores indicate better prospective memory abilities or more frequent strategy use.

We also used the Mind Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ; [ 28 ]), a self-report 5-item questionnaire that evaluates our participants’ natural tendency to experience episodes of mind wandering. It is composed of 5-point Likert response scales ranging from 1 (Almost never) to 5 (Almost always). The higher the score, the greater the propensity to wander.

Finally, we included the “Patient Health Questionnaire-4” (PHQ-4; [ 69 , 70 ]), a 4-item inventory useful for detecting cues of both depression and anxiety. It is composed of 4-points Likert response scales ranging from 1 (Never) to 4 (Almost every day). The higher the score, the greater the depressive and anxious traits. Its purpose is to allow for a very brief evaluation of depression and anxiety disorders. This questionnaire was included in order to nuance our results, participants presenting high depressive and anxious traits could present a different pattern of mind wandering [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ] than healthy subjects.

2.4. Data Analysis

All statistical analyses were conducted with JASP (0.11.1) to test our different hypotheses. We conducted a repeated measure ANOVA on the ratio of MW with two factors: the content of MW (EFT, Planning, EPT and Imagination) and the type of MW (Spontaneous, External, Voluntary). The post-hoc analyses were corrected using the Bonferroni correction. Two multiple linear regressions were performed to predict the PM score with rates of the different components of mind wandering (content and source) and different independent measures collected with the questionnaires (prospective metamemory, mind wandering trait). We also included some covariates that may influence predictions such as Age and Mood (Depression and Anxiety). We reported the effect size for ANOVAs with η 2 p (partial eta squared). A standard statistical significance level of 0.5 was used.

3.1. Consistency of Mind Wandering’s Measure

The reliability of our experience-sampling method of mind wandering is illustrated by the observation of a positive relationship between the MW trait, measured by the MWQ, and the MW frequency, measured by the thought probes, r = 0.232, CI [0.076; 0.377], p = 0.004 (see detailed statistics in Supplementary Material S1 ).

Calculation of the number of mind-wandering episodes in relation to the number of surveys answered (frequency calculation) showed that mind wandering occurred in 39.6% ± 0.168 of thought probes answered (4465). Mind wandering seems to take place more while people are working (15.81%). Conversely, the activity during which people experience fewer episodes of mind wandering is making love (0.11%) (see Figure 2 and Table 4 ).

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Frequency of different activity during MW episodes.

Mind wandering’s probes: Descriptive statistics of ongoing activities during thought probes.

We observed a significant main effect of the content, F(3,675) = 189.661, p < 0.001, ƞ p 2 = 0.457 ( Figure 3 ). A post-hoc analysis, with Bonferroni correction, revealed that the content of the mind wandering episodes was significatively more planning-oriented (17.4%, marginal mean = 0.058, 95% CI [0.053; 0.063]) than EFT-oriented (7.8%, marginal mean = 0.026, 95% CI [0.023; 0.029]), EPT-oriented (3.9%, marginal mean = 0.013, 95% CI [0.011; 0.015]), and Imagination-oriented (4.9%, 0.013, 95% CI [0.011; 0.015]). EFT-oriented thoughts were more frequent than EPT-oriented (mean difference = 0.013, 95% CI [0.007; 0.019]), or Imagination-oriented (mean difference = 0.013, 95% CI [0.007; 0.019]). The latter two being not significantly different (mean difference = 3.979 −16 , 95% CI [−0.006; 0.006]).

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Frequency of different MW contents, calculated on all thought probes. *** p < 0.001.

There was also a significant main effect of the MW source, F(2,450) = 6.520, p = 0.002, ƞ p 2 = 0.028 ( Figure 4 ). A post hoc analysis, with Bonferroni correction, showed that the source of the mind wandering episodes was more Spontaneous (0.031, 95% CI [0.027; 0.034]) than External (0.025, 95% CI [0.022; 0.029]) and Voluntary (0.026, 95% CI [0.023; 0.030]). The latter two being not significantly different (mean difference = −8.823, 95% CI [−0.007; 0.005]).

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Object name is brainsci-12-01139-g004.jpg

MW source frequency, calculated on all thought probes. ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

Lastly, we reported a significant interaction between the MW content and the MW source, F(6,1344) = 2.386, p < 0.027, ƞ p 2 = 0.011 ( Figure 5 ). Post hoc analyses showed that the observed interaction is due to the fact that for all MW sources, except for planning-oriented thoughts, MW was more Spontaneous than External and Voluntary (see detailed statistics in Supplementary Material S2 ). On the contrary, planning-oriented thoughts were more voluntary (0.068, 95% CI [0.059; 0.076]) than spontaneous (0.055, 95% CI [0.047; 0.063]) and external (0.051, 95% CI [0.043; 0.060]).

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Object name is brainsci-12-01139-g005.jpg

Interaction between MW contents and source frequency. *** p < 0.001.

3.2. Consistency of Prospective Memory’s Measure

We conducted a backward hierarchical regression on the PM correct ratio of prospective memory responses to verify the reliability of our prospective memory task. We entered as predictors the three components of Prospective metamemory: Aptitude, Internal strategy and External strategy. As age, depression and anxiety may impact PM performance, we included these factors as covariates in the regression. We only observed a positive relation between Aptitude and the PM correct ratio. The Aptitude component significantly predicted better PM performance, t(136) = 2.618, p = 0.010, 95% CI [0.002; 0.015], β = 0.220. The global model was significant, F(3,136) = 6.852, p = 0.010. R 2 = 0.048.

3.3. Predictors of PM Correct Ratio

We conducted another backward hierarchical regression on the PM correct ratio of prospective memory responses with the following predictors: MWQ, Global MW frequency, ratio of MW of each Type (EFT, Planning, EPT, Imagination) and Source (Spontaneous, External, Voluntary). Meta Aptitude, Age, Depression and Anxiety were used as covariates in the regression.

The Meta Aptitude still predicted the PM correct ratio t(136) = 2.099, p = 0.038, 95% CI [5.295 −4 ; 0.018], β = 0.172. We also reported that the “trait” of mind wandering, measured by the MWQ questionnaire, negatively and significatively predicted PM correct ratio, t(136) = −2.123, p = 0.036, 95% CI [−0.027; −9.402 −4 ], β = −0.174. Moreover, episodes of past-oriented mind wandering significatively and positively predicted PM correct ratio, t(136) = 2.280, p = 0.024, 95% CI [0.065; 0.919], β = 0.186,. No other MW content predicted the PM correct ratio. We reported that the global model was significant, F(2,136) = 5.368, p = 0.002, R 2 = 0.108.

4. Discussion

The main objective of this study was to investigate the link between MW content and source and the ability to perform (time-based) PM intentions. In addition to replicating literature [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], i.e., the high proportion (30–50%) of daily MW, we expected that individuals spend more time thinking about the future rather than the past, highlighting a prospective bias in the MW. Furthermore, as we argued that PM-oriented thoughts MW episodes would be more deliberate, we expected that engaging in a deliberate form of PM-oriented MW would lead to better PM performance compared to any other spontaneous WM content. To resume, we also wanted to study whether the tendency towards voluntary or spontaneous MW, or the content of MW (past/future), or the interaction between these characteristics predicted the execution of prospective intentions.

4.1. Validation of the Mind Wandering’s Experimental Protocol

Coherently with previous findings [ 4 ], we observe a strong propensity to perform MW (39,6%) in daily life, thus confirming the prevalence of this human cognitive phenomenon. Additionally, do episodes of MW represent a significant proportion of daily waking time and seem to occur mostly in the context of work (15,1%), during which boredom and external distractions are common. In contrast, as Killingsworth and Gilbert [ 4 ] have shown, few or no episodes of MW are experienced during the physical act of love (0,11%). In addition to replicating these observations, our results highlight the presence of a prospective bias in the content of the MW (significantly higher rate of planning-oriented thoughts). Our results are also in line with the literature [ 62 , 66 , 75 ] and seem to point to a potential function of mind wandering. This could explain why future-oriented thoughts are so common in everyday life [ 76 , 77 , 78 ]. Actually, it seems unlikely that such a prominent phenomenon of our mental life serves no purpose.

4.2. Validation of the Prospective Memory’s Experimental Protocol

Metacognition is a factor strongly related to memory abilities, specifically with PM as it requires us to reflect on our intentions while they are being formed as well as when they are retrieved [ 79 , 80 ]. It is becoming increasingly evident that the metamemory capacities of individuals can modulate the nature of the processes recruited in PM functioning [ 81 , 82 ]. The nature of the processes engaged would thus be defined by our estimation of our attentional and memory capacities and by the difficulty we attribute to the task. It is therefore expected to observe links between metamemory and prospective memory in the same study measuring these two aspects. This would, in a way, support the methodology used. As anticipated, we report a positive relationship between the metamemory’s aptitude, as measured subjectively by the MPMI_s questionnaire [ 68 ] and our objective measure of prospective memory. This observation tends to confirm the reliability of our prospective memory task.

4.3. Investigating the Link between MW and MP

The existence of the prospective bias within the MW content is therefore confirmed, but its role and origin still raise questions. Contrary to what the literature would lead us to believe our results show that prospective thoughts occur more voluntarily than spontaneously. Indeed, Cole [ 83 ] hypothesized that the majority of future thoughts in MW were spontaneous and “pre-fabricated”. Because spontaneous thoughts oriented towards the future would come to consciousness much more quickly than those oriented towards the past, those “ready-made” thoughts would be mainly about future tasks and goals. Thus, each spontaneous future thought would simply be a re-iteration of a previously constructed future event. Furthermore, Stawarczyk et al. [ 74 ] theorized that future-oriented MW episodes involved more inner speech, and would be de facto more personally relevant and more realistic or concrete than visual imagery contained in past-oriented thoughts, which are less structured. Inner speech would so allow for the future mental representation of intentions through the internal enunciation of future action, to better plan it. Lastly, in their review, Kvavilashvili and Rummel [ 37 ] agree wholeheartedly with this view, by concluding that future-oriented thinking is largely spontaneous, focused on the near future and concerned with concrete projects rather than abstract projections. Nevertheless, thinking about the upcoming prospective memory task in the retention interval could be also deliberate, notably when mentally revising one’s plans for a day [ 37 ].

If the MW prospective bias seems to check all the boxes to be a determining factor in the successful realization of an intention, it does not predict prospective memory performance in our study. Quite the opposite, we reported that the mind wandering trait predicts negatively the PM correct ratio. This is not really surprising considering that MW could have a negative effect on PM performance, particularly if it occurs during the encoding or recall phases [ 29 ]. Indeed, if during the encoding and planning of future intentions, our mind wanders, the quality of encoding will be strongly altered and will therefore lead to poorer prospective recall performance. Similarly, when an episode of MW occurs during the period in which we should be confronted with various prospective cues, normally allowing us to correctly retrieve the intention in memory, attention is then decoupled from the environment and we cannot be challenged by the salience of the prospective cues, which would in fine go unnoticed [ 53 , 54 ]. Nevertheless, our results seem to rather show a link between past-oriented thoughts and the execution of a prospective intention. This might make sense if you consider that if the MW appears during the intention retention period, after the encoding phase and prior to the recall phase, there would be a potential improvement in prospective memory capacities. Some studies tend to show that MW could contribute to improving memory encoding [ 31 , 32 , 84 ], and even memory consolidation [ 33 , 34 ]. The recall of a memory leads to a re-encoding of the event, promoting its long-term consolidation. Thus, during a phase of retention of prospective information following prospective encoding, MW would allow for consolidation of the memory of these intentions, by recalling them to mind regularly [ 85 ]. This idea is all the more valid since, if we take up the distinction between voluntary and spontaneous MW, i.e., one based on mental imagery and the other on internal speech. Mental imagery in PM, which consists of imagining, at the time of encoding the intention, the context of the action, as well as its actual realization by borrowing a personal perspective, could facilitate the retrieval of intentions in PM. This mechanism of projection into the future deployed at the time of encoding, or re-encoding during the consolidation period, would have a beneficial effect on the subsequent recall of intentions by facilitating the identification and automatic processing of prospective cues [ 86 ]. This technique has been shown to improve recall of event-based and time-based intentions [ 87 ]. Thus, it is likely that the reactivation or reinforcement of the representation of the intention through the MW in the retention phase would be at the origin of the relationship between past-oriented thoughts and the realization of prospective intentions.

The beneficial intervention of MW during a retention period is also found in the literature, particularly in the theoretical field of creativity. Indeed, some studies seem to point to the possibility that MW (both the state and the trait) improves divergent thinking abilities, as it would allow, through the free association of thoughts, to generate new ideas or solve problems [ 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ]. Thus, the emergence of MW episodes during the incubation phase of a problem would improve its success [ 92 ] and allow for greater flexibility in a divergent thinking task [ 93 ]. However, this potential benefic aspect does not appear to be systematic [ 94 , 95 ] and could depend on the distance between the establishment of a problem and its resolution: a short distance would mobilize more controlled processes, making the influence of mind wandering harmful, while a longer distance would rely mainly on associative, more automatic processes. It would be mainly in this second case that the beneficial effect of MW would be manifested. Even if the results are relatively heterogeneous, these studies on creativity suggest that the content of mind wandering can be used to create associations with other information, suggesting better processing and retention of this information.

When mind wandering is totally disconnected from what the participant is doing at the moment, the impact of mind wandering will be analogous to a divided attention situation and will negatively impact the processing of environmental stimuli (PM encoding and retrieval). However, when the content of the mind wandering is linked more or less directly with certain external stimuli, it may favor their processing, generating spontaneous associations. If we apply this pattern of results to encoding in episodic memory, then we can predict that, in the majority of cases, mind wandering will have a negative impact on encoding. Nonetheless, in certain specific cases, where the participant experiences thoughts related to the stimuli, this associative processing will probably allow for better encoding them, notably during the PM retention period. In conclusion, while the use of future-oriented thoughts will obviously improve the planning of an intention, it may well be that episodes of MW during the retention period also allow participants to re-encode intentions. This assumption makes sense with the literature, in that past-oriented thoughts would be more mental imagery than inner speech, in contrast to future-oriented thinking [ 74 ]. If it is just the inner speech that would be the source of the beneficial impact of prospective bias, notably via the involvement of spontaneous mental rehearsal of an action on its future execution [ 63 , 65 , 96 ], the beneficial effect of using this mental rehearsal intention technique could be due that we use our episodic memory to imagine future scenarios [ 97 ]. We hypothesize that rather than repeating the intention inwardly, in a literal way, we use mental imagery to visually recall the source of the encoding, or imagine ourselves carrying out the intention, associating all the context that surrounds the realization, at the appropriate time, of the prospective action. Past-oriented thoughts would thus serve, in this case, to consolidate an already programmed intention.

Nonetheless, these interpretations remain largely speculative since our two tasks were completely independent. Indeed, we had to distinguish the phases in which we measured MW from those in which we measured the PM. This was performed in order to avoid a bias in our prospective memory task since sending thought probes at the same time as the subjects had to perform the PM task would have likely serve as prospective reminder.

5. Conclusions

If we confirm the presence of an important prospective bias, supporting the hypothesis of a memory system strongly committed to the future, we do not find a significant effect of such a bias on the achievement of prospective intentions. On the contrary, we found that past-oriented MW positively predicted PM performances. We propose that this link could be explained by the fact that encoded intentions are re-encoded when reactivated during MW. Thus, MW could enhance intention representation and increase intention retrieval. Although the proposed hypotheses to explain these findings are largely speculative, they are easily testable in future studies. For instance, we could explore the impact of an induced MW condition on PM performance. For example, it would be possible to compare the effect of MW induction after the encoding of prospective intentions to a control condition (with MW removed) on PM performance. For the experimental MW induction, research has already suggested that manipulations of task difficulty (cognitive load) could differentially affect rates of intentional and unintentional MW [ 55 ] and this kind of manipulation could have opposing effects on intentional and unintentional MW: whereas participants reported more intentional MW in an easy task (low cognitive load) than in a difficult task (high cognitive load), they reported more unintentional MW in a difficult task than in an easy task [ 98 ]. Our results would have been strengthened by using a standardized PM assessment. Nevertheless, the online recruitment on smartphones hardly permits the administration of experimental tasks. This problem unfortunately concerns all PM studies conducted in real-life contexts and it seems that this issue has not yet been solved. Faced with this Cornelian choice, stuck between a lack of ecological validity of PM lab-based task and the lack of experimental control of PM real-life tasks, virtual reality could represent a good compromise to assess PM, bypassing the biases of classical evaluations. By placing subjects in a multitude of naturalistic situations for which they can recall a wide variety of intentions, it allows us to simulate the complexity of the activities of daily life and while maintaining experimental rigor, to obtain a measurement that is both sensitive, complete, and specific to the functioning of the PM and its various components, that is difficult to uphold in real-life PM tasks. We think that such a methodology deserves further attention that future studies should try to definitively settle the question of the benefic role of the prospective bias in the achievement of prospective intentions.

In conclusion, our study is inspiring on the inextricable and surprising link between MW and PM. Firstly, future-oriented thoughts are more voluntary than we think, and secondly, the projection of the MW into the past might play a more important role in the potential function of MW on PM. Additional research is expected to explore the subtle nuances of the MW content. Lastly, the use of other methods (ESM) to measure MW and PM is of interest for the study and understanding of PM outside the laboratory in everyday life.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participants who participated in this study. And Malo for your spirit of protest which cultivates my dispositional mindfulness.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/brainsci12091139/s1 , S1: Correlation_Matrix; S2: Interaction-Post_Hoc.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, J.-C.G.; methodology, J.-C.G. and M.S.; software, J.-C.G. and M.S.; formal analysis, J.-C.G. and M.S.; investigation, J.-C.G.; data curation, J.-C.G. and M.S.; writing—original draft preparation, J.-C.G. and P.B.; writing—review and editing, J.-C.G., M.S. and P.P.; visualization, J.-C.G.; supervision, M.S. and P.P.; project administration, M.S. and P.P.; funding acquisition, P.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by Research Ethics Committee of Université Paris Cité (N° IRB: 00012020-89).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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If the officer's attention wanders , slip off.

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Definition of 'wander' wander

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The Oxford Handbook of Spontaneous Thought: Mind-Wandering, Creativity, and Dreaming

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15 Mind-Wandering and Self-Referential Thought

Arnaud D’Argembeau Department of Psychology Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit University of Liège Liège, Belgium

Published: 05 April 2018
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When one’s mind wanders, one frequently experiences thoughts, images, and feelings about oneself and one’s life. These self-referential thoughts involve diverse contents and take various forms, but most often focus on specific future events that are closely related to one’s personal goals and concerns. Neuroimaging studies show that such spontaneous thoughts recruit many of the same brain regions—largely corresponding to the default network—as directed self-referential thought. The medial prefrontal cortex is most consistently involved and might contribute to assign value and to integrate processed contents with autobiographical knowledge. The tendency of the wandering mind to focus on self-related information might foster a sense of personal identity and lay the foundation for long-term goal pursuit.

A fascinating feature of the human mind is its ability to temporarily disengage from current sensory input to mentally simulate alternatives to the here and now. During our daily activities, the mind indeed frequently drifts away from the task at hand and focuses on various thoughts and mental images that are only loosely (if at all) related to our immediate environment. These thoughts can be remarkably varied in their content and phenomenology, yet a bit of introspection readily indicates that many of them involve self-referential information—memories of personal experiences, anticipations of and plans about one’s future, evaluations of one’s personal characteristics and life situations, thoughts about one’s social relationships, and so on. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the nature, neural correlates, and possible functions of such self-referential thoughts.

The Centrality of Self-Referential Thought When the Mind Wanders

The occurrence of thoughts that are not tied to the immediate environment (here referred to as “task-unrelated thought”) 1 is a frequent phenomenon: On average, people’s minds wander between 25% and 50% of the time in daily life, although there is substantial individual and situational variability in this respect ( Kane et al., 2007 ; Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010 ; Song & Wang, 2012 ). Furthermore, many of the thoughts (around 30%) that people experience in their daily life are judged to be spontaneous ( Klinger & Cox, 1987 ). It has long been proposed that the content of daydreaming and mind-wandering is not random, but is often focused on self-relevant information, such as personal goals and concerns ( Klinger, 2013 ; J. L. Singer, 1998 ; Smallwood & Schooler, 2006 ), and recent research on the characteristics of task-unrelated and spontaneous thoughts largely supports this view.

A number of studies have investigated the properties of mind-wandering episodes occurring while performing various tasks in the laboratory. Using a retrospective questionnaire administered after task completion to assess subjective aspects of mind-wandering, Andrews-Hanna, Reidler, Huang, and Buckner (2010) found that task-unrelated thoughts were often judged to revolve around personally relevant concerns. Similarly, Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maj, Van der Linden, and D’Argembeau (2011) collected subjective ratings of mind-wandering episodes occurring in the context of a sustained attention task and found that, on average, participants rated their thoughts as personally important and related to their goals. In a study by Baird, Smallwood, and Schooler (2011) , participants reported the content of their mental states at several occasions during a choice-reaction time task, and the subsequent coding of described thoughts revealed that the majority of task-unrelated thoughts (66%) included specific mentions of the individual’s self. Relatedly, Cole and Berntsen (2016) observed that memories and future thoughts that were spontaneously activated during a vigilance task were frequently linked to the participants’ current concerns.

Investigations of how different thought characteristics relate to each other also point to self-relevance as a central dimension of mind-wandering. For example, Stawarczyk, Cassol, and D’Argembeau (2013) had participants rate various characteristics of task-unrelated thoughts and applied a multilevel factor analysis to these data. The results showed that personal significance was an important factor in explaining variations in thought characteristics, with dimensions that loaded most strongly on this factor being the importance of thought content, relationship to personal goals, and frequency of occurrence in daily life. In the same vein, other studies have indicated that self-relatedness is a central dimension characterizing task-unrelated thought content ( Ruby, Smallwood, Engen, & Singer, 2013 ; Ruby, Smallwood, Sackur, & Singer, 2013 ).

The self-relevance of mind-wandering has likewise been demonstrated in studies investigating the characteristics of thoughts in daily life. Using an experience-sampling method to assess task-unrelated thought content, Song and Wang (2012) found that most mind-wandering episodes were related to one’s self and personal life. Andrews-Hanna et al. (2013) asked participants to report and assess a series of thoughts that had been recently in their minds in daily life. Although the characteristics of reported thoughts varied widely, on average, participants characterized their thoughts as highly self-relevant. Furthermore, when examining the relationships between the different characteristics of thoughts using hierarchical clustering analysis, it was found that personal significance was an important dimension characterizing thought content.

Other studies have focused more specifically on particular types of self-related thoughts. For example, in a series of studies by Berntsen and colleagues (e.g., Berntsen, 1996 ; Berntsen & Jacobsen, 2008 ; Finnbogadottir & Berntsen, 2013 ), participants monitored the occurrence of involuntary (spontaneous) autobiographical memories and future thoughts in their daily life and recorded their characteristics in a diary. Overall, these studies have shown that involuntary autobiographical memories and future thoughts are common in daily life, are often activated in response to situational cues, and typically arise in states of diffuse attention.

In summary, a number of studies using various methods to assess mind-wandering in the laboratory or in natural settings converge to show that task-unrelated and spontaneous thoughts are frequent and often involve personally significant contents. The next section considers more deeply the different forms that these self-related thoughts can take.

Varieties of Self-Referential Thought

Self-referential thoughts can vary widely in their content, specificity, and temporal orientation. Some thoughts rely on personal semantic information, such as abstract representations of one’s personal characteristics (e.g., one’s personality traits, abilities, goals, social roles, preferences, and values) and knowledge of facts about one’s life ( Klein & Gangi, 2010 ; Markus & Wurf, 1987 ; Renoult, Davidson, Palombo, Moscovitch, & Levine, 2012 ). Other thoughts involve the mental simulation of specific life episodes, either events that occurred in one’s personal past or situations that might happen in one’s personal future ( D’Argembeau & Van der Linden, 2004 ; Schacter, 2012 ; Szpunar, 2010 ). Although the extent to which the wandering mind involves these different types of self-referential thought remains to be investigated in detail, current evidence suggests that it tends preferentially toward particular forms.

One of the most consistent findings has been that the wandering mind focuses most frequently on future events; for example, Smallwood, Nind, and O’Connor (2009) observed that task-unrelated thoughts that occurred while performing an undemanding task were mostly future-oriented, a finding that has been replicated in several laboratory studies of mind-wandering ( Baird et al., 2011 ; Ruby, Smallwood, Engen, & Singer, 2013 ; Ruby, Smallwood, Sackur, & Singer, 2013 ; Smallwood et al., 2011 ; Stawarczyk et al., 2013 ; Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maj, et al., 2011 ). Similarly, studies investigating the characteristics of task-unrelated thoughts in daily life have shown that most thoughts focus on the future ( Andrews-Hanna et al., 2013 ; Song & Wang, 2012 ). Furthermore, there is evidence that future-oriented mind-wanderings are perceived as more personally significant than non-future-oriented mind-wanderings ( Stawarczyk et al., 2013 ), and often involve the anticipation and planning of personally relevant future goals ( Baird et al., 2011 ).

The future orientation of task-unrelated thoughts seems particularly pronounced when self-relevant information is salient in a person’s mind. Indeed, research has shown that priming personally significant contents increases the prospective bias of mind-wandering. Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maj, et al. (2011) asked participants to write an essay about their personal goals or about a topic unrelated to personal goals (i.e., a familiar itinerary); then, the temporal focus of mind-wandering during an unrelated task was assessed. The results showed that participants who had previously thought about their personal goals subsequently experienced more future-oriented mind-wandering. In a related vein, Smallwood et al. (2011) found that making people think about their personality traits increased future-oriented mind-wandering in a subsequent task.

Other data suggest that, although task-unrelated thoughts can vary widely in their representational format and degree of abstraction, they most often focus on specific events. Andrews-Hanna et al. (2013) found that 77% of thoughts reported to happen in daily life pertained to a specific event and, of these, 60% were oriented toward the future. Similarly, Stawarczyk et al. (2013) found that the contents of mind-wandering episodes were mostly related to something concrete and well-defined (e.g., a particular situation or action). Some studies have further compared the characteristics of spontaneous versus voluntary autobiographical representations, showing that spontaneous memories and future thoughts are typically more specific than their voluntary counterparts ( Berntsen & Jacobsen, 2008 ; Cole, Staugaard, & Berntsen, 2016 ).

Altogether, these findings indicate that the wandering mind can represent diverse contents and take various forms, but most often involves the representation of specific future events that are closely related to one’s personal goals (for a more in-depth discussion, see Chapter 16 by Stawarczyk in this volume).

Neural Correlates of Directed and Spontaneous Self-Referential Thought

Neuroimaging research has shown that mind-wandering is associated with activations in a specific set of brain regions, which largely corresponds to the so-called default network ( Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, & Schacter, 2008 ) and includes the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate/precuneus, inferior parietal lobules, and areas of the medial and lateral temporal lobes (e.g., Christoff, Gordon, Smallwood, Smith, & Schooler, 2009 ; Mason et al., 2007 ; Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maquet, & D’Argembeau, 2011 ) (for meta-analyses, see Fox, Spreng, Ellamil, Andrews-Hanna, & Christoff, 2015 ; Stawarczyk & D’Argembeau, 2015 ). Many of these regions are also activated when people are explicitly instructed to process self-related information, which provides additional support to the view that self-referential thought is an important component of the mind-wandering state. This section first presents an overview of the neural correlates of different types of self-representation (as revealed by task-based studies), and then considers the few studies that have investigated the neural correlates of task-unrelated and spontaneous self-referential thought.

The neural correlates of different types of self-representation have been extensively investigated using functional neuroimaging. Some studies have focused on personal semantic knowledge, such as the representation of one’s personality traits. In a typical study (e.g., Kelley et al., 2002 ), participants are asked to evaluate the self-descriptiveness of traits (e.g., polite, dependable, daring), and this task is compared to making other types of trait judgements (e.g., assessing their descriptiveness in reference to another person). Several meta-analyses have shown that both self- and other-referential judgments engage regions supporting semantic processing (such as the lateral temporal cortex), and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is typically more activated during self- versus other-referential judgments ( Araujo, Kaplan, & Damasio, 2013 ; Murray, Schaer, & Debbane, 2012 ; van der Meer, Costafreda, Aleman, & David, 2010 ). Research further suggests that the mPFC is involved in processing different types of personal semantic information: not only one’s personality traits, but also one’s attitudes, values, and physical attributes (e.g., Brosch, Coppin, Schwartz, & Sander, 2012 ; Jenkins & Mitchell, 2011 ; Zysset, Huber, Ferstl, & von Cramon, 2002 ).

The neural basis of autobiographical memory—memories of one’s past experiences and knowledge of facts about one’s life—has also received extensive attention (for a review, see Cabeza & St. Jacques, 2007 ). In many studies, memories of specific personal experiences (i.e., events that happened at a particular place and time in an individual’s life) are compared with the retrieval of non-personal information (e.g., non-personal semantic knowledge or stimuli that have been learned in the laboratory before the scanning session). Neuroimaging evidence indicates that such autobiographical memory retrieval is associated with activations in the mPFC, medial and lateral temporal areas, posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex, and inferior parietal lobes (for meta-analyses, see Kim, 2012 ; Martinelli, Sperduti, & Piolino, 2013 ; McDermott, Szpunar, & Christ, 2009 ; Spreng, Mar, & Kim, 2009 ; Svoboda, McKinnon, & Levine, 2006 ). Furthermore, lesion data have revealed that damage to these areas is associated with deficits in autobiographical memory retrieval ( Philippi, Tranel, Duff, & Rudrauf, 2015 ).

A recent meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies ( Martinelli et al., 2013 ) has compared the neural correlates of different types of self-referential thought: representations of personal characteristics (such as personality traits), knowledge of personal facts, and memories for specific events. The results show that each type of self-referential thought is associated with unique brain activations, with a shift from posterior to anterior regions with increasing abstraction of representations. Indeed, specific memories predominantly activate posterior structures, including the medial and lateral temporal lobes and posterior cingulate/precuneus, whereas abstract representations of personal characteristics recruit only medial prefrontal structures; finally, knowledge of personal facts is associated with anterior activations, as well as posterior structures (mainly the lateral temporal cortex). Interestingly, the mPFC is the only brain region that is consistently activated when thinking about one’s traits, retrieving specific experiences from one’s past, and accessing knowledge of facts about one’s life, with both common and distinct activations across these three kinds of self-referential thought.

As mentioned in the previous section, the wandering mind often focuses on future events and involves the processing of personal goals. The neural correlates of future-oriented and goal-directed thought are thus of particular interest. Neuroimaging studies in which participants are explicitly instructed to reflect on their personal goals have shown that this process recruits areas of the default network. For example, Johnson et al. (2006) asked participants to think about their hopes and aspirations, about their duties and obligations, and about non-self-relevant topics (e.g., polar bears fishing). The results showed that the mPFC, posterior cingulate/precuneus, and lateral temporal cortex were more activated when thinking about personal goals than when thinking about non-self-relevant topics. There were also distinct activations as a function of the type of personal goals considered: a region of the mPFC showed greater activation when thinking about hopes and aspirations, whereas a posterior medial region showed greater activation when thinking about duties and obligations. Subsequent studies have detected similar activations in the mPFC, posterior cingulate, and lateral temporal cortex when reflecting on personal goals, especially promotion goals (i.e., things the individual would like to achieve) (for a meta-analysis, see Stawarczyk & D’Argembeau, 2015 ).

In recent years there has also been increasing interest in episodic future thinking—the ability to imagine or simulate specific events that might happen in one’s personal future ( D’Argembeau, 2012 ; Schacter, Addis, & Buckner, 2008 ; Szpunar, 2010 ). A number of neuroimaging studies have shown that such mental simulations of future events depend on largely the same brain regions as autobiographical remembering—the mPFC, posterior cingulate and restrosplenial cortices, medial and lateral temporal regions, inferior parietal lobules, and parts of the lateral prefrontal cortex (e.g., Addis, Wong, & Schacter, 2007 ; Szpunar, Watson, & McDermott, 2007 ; for a meta-analysis, see Benoit & Schacter, 2015 ). These different brain regions likely support different component processes involved in episodic future thought; for example, the medial temporal lobe may support the flexible retrieval and recombination of episodic details to construct representations of novel events ( Addis & Schacter, 2012 ), whereas the lateral temporal cortex may represent semantic knowledge that is used for constructing coherent events ( Irish, Addis, Hodges, & Piguet, 2012 ).

A few studies have investigated whether personal goal processing is associated with specific activations within this core network supporting episodic future thought. It has been found that medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices are more activated when thinking about goal-related compared to goal-unrelated future events, suggesting that cortical midline structures may underpin the processing of personal goals during episodic future thinking ( D’Argembeau et al., 2010 ). In line with this view, a recent meta-analysis has shown that studies of episodic future thinking and studies of personal goal processing are associated with overlapping activations in the mPFC and posterior cingulate cortex, as well as other regions of the core network ( Stawarczyk & D’Argembeau, 2015 ). It has also been found that imagining taking various steps and actions to achieve personal goals depends on the functional coupling of the core network with the frontoparietal control network, a system supporting cognitive control ( Spreng, Stevens, Chamberlain, Gilmore, & Schacter, 2010 ). Thus, the frontoparietal control network may also contribute to personal goal processing, perhaps by monitoring and integrating future-oriented thoughts in coherent sequences to achieve imagined end-states. A recent study has further clarified the role of distinct brain areas in personal goal processing by showing that imagining what it would be like to achieve a given goal mainly involves the mPFC, whereas constructing a detailed plan of how to reach this goal engages regions from both the core network and the frontroparietal control network ( Gerlach, Spreng, Madore, & Schacter, 2014 ).

While many studies have investigated the neural correlates of self-referential thought using directed self-processing tasks, only a few studies have examined the brain regions associated with task-unrelated and spontaneous self-referential thought. Some studies investigated thought processes spontaneously occurring when people were not required to perform a particular task (the so-called resting state). In a pioneering study, Andreasen et al. (1995) used positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate similarities and differences in neural activity between the explicit retrieval of autobiographical memories and a rest condition (i.e., lying quietly with no specific instructions about mental activity). They found that the mPFC and medial posterior areas (precuneus/retrosplenial cortex) showed greater activity during both autobiographical memory retrieval and rest compared to a semantic memory condition. Interviews with the participants indicated that they spontaneously thought about a variety of things during the rest condition, but especially about self-related contents such as past experiences and future activities. The authors concluded that the psychological commonality between the rest and autobiographical memory conditions is that “both involve something personal and highly individual” (p. 1583).

Another PET study examined the commonalities in brain activation between the resting state and the active reflection on one’s personality traits ( D’Argembeau et al., 2005 ). It was found that both conditions were associated with common activation in the mPFC compared with conditions requiring participants to reflect on non-self-related contents. Furthermore, an analysis of the content of mental activity (using verbal reports and rating scales obtained after each scan) showed that participants spontaneously experienced self-referential thought during the rest condition, and the amount of self-referential processing correlated specifically with the activity of the mPFC. Common activations in the mPFC and posterior cingulate cortex during the resting state and directed self-reference tasks have also been observed in a more recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study ( Whitfield-Gabrieli et al., 2011 ), and have been confirmed by a meta-analysis comparing the location of activations in neuroimaging studies on the default network (i.e., brain regions showing stronger activation during the resting state compared to active tasks) with the location of activations associated with various self-related tasks (e.g., trait judgments, autobiographical memory, face recognition, and name perception) ( Qin & Northoff, 2011 ).

There is also evidence that self-referential thoughts that occur while performing an unrelated task are associated with similar neural correlates as directed self-referential thoughts. Stawarczyk and D’Argembeau (2015) performed a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of episodic future thinking, on the one hand, and a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of mind-wandering, on the other hand. A conjunction analysis showed that these two types of studies were associated with common activations in several regions of the default network, including the mPFC, posterior cingulate cortex, left inferior parietal cortex, and left medial and lateral temporal regions. Considering that most mind-wandering episodes are future-oriented (see previous discussion), this finding suggests that task-based and task-unrelated future thoughts are supported by largely similar brain regions. Some differences between the two kinds of self-referential thoughts were also noted, however. In particular, the lateral prefrontal cortex showed greater activity during directed future thinking compared to mind-wandering. Similarly, it has been found that voluntary episodic memories involve the lateral prefrontal cortex to a greater extent than involuntary episodic memories, with otherwise extensive overlaps in default network activity between the two kinds of memories ( Hall et al., 2014 ). Together, these results suggest that directed and spontaneous self-referential thoughts share many commonalities, but may differ in the extent to which they rely on effortful cognitive processes (see also Dixon, Fox, & Christoff, 2014 ).

In summary, neuroimaging studies have shown that directed self-referential thoughts are associated with activations in a set of brain regions that largely corresponds to the default network. The specific areas that are recruited depend on the type of self-representation under consideration, with abstract thoughts relying mainly on the mPFC and lateral temporal cortex, while more specific (past or future) thoughts recruit additional regions supporting the representation of episodic details (e.g., the medial temporal lobe and posterior cingulate/restroplenial cortex). A number of studies and meta-analyses have further demonstrated that many of the same areas are activated during the resting state or in association with mind-wandering, suggesting that these brain regions are also involved in spontaneous or unconstrained self-referential thought processes. Across all these studies, the mPFC is the brain region that has been most consistently associated with different types of self-representation, indicating that this region might play a particularly important role in both intentional and spontaneous self-referential cognition.

What Is the Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Referential Thought?

While it has become clear that the mPFC plays a key role in self-referential thought, the exact processing operations mediated by this region are not fully understood. One possibility is that the mPFC contributes to the appraisal or representation of the subjective value or significance of self-related information. Indeed, the mPFC is thought to play a broad role in affective and value-based processing ( Roy, Shohamy, & Wager, 2012 ). Most notably, research has shown that medial prefrontal activity encodes the subjective values of various types of rewards, which has led to the view that the mPFC integrates information from multiple sources to represent the significance or value of stimuli (for review, see Levy & Glimcher, 2012 ; Peters & Buchel, 2010b ; Rangel & Hare, 2010 ; Sescousse, Caldu, Segura, & Dreher, 2013 ). Although these studies focused on the subjective valuation of stimuli from the external environment, the medial prefrontal activations that are observed in relation to self-referential thought could reflect a similar valuation mechanism ( D’Argembeau, 2013 ). Stimuli and mental representations that refer or relate to the self tend to be assigned a unique value, and the function of the mPFC may precisely be to evaluate or represent such significance. This account is, for example, supported by the finding that activity in the mPFC increases linearly with the personal importance of the mental representations under consideration ( Andrews-Hanna, Reidler, Sepulcre, Poulin, & Buckner, 2010 ; D’Argembeau et al., 2012 ). By flexibly assigning degrees of value to self-related contents, the mPFC might play an important role in the construction, stabilization, and modification of self-representations.

Another (not necessarily mutually exclusive, but somewhat broader) view is that the mPFC supports the integration of multiple representations during self-referential thought. It has been proposed that self-reference acts as an integrative hub for perception, decision-making, and memory, helping to bind together different types of information and even different stages of processing ( Sui & Humphreys, 2015 ). In support of this view, there is, for example, evidence that people recall more episodic details about items judged in reference to the self, suggesting that self-reference enhances the binding of different forms of information in memory (e.g., items and associated contextual details) ( Conway, Dewhurst, Pearson, & Sapute, 2001 ). A potential role of the mPFC in this integrative process is suggested by evidence showing that the self-reference effect in memory is predicted by medial prefrontal activity in healthy individuals ( Macrae, Moran, Heatherton, Banfield, & Kelley, 2004 ) and is abolished in patients with focal brain damage to the mPFC ( Philippi, Duff, Denburg, Tranel, & Rudrauf, 2012 ). More generally, there is substantial evidence that the mPFC is involved in relating and integrating incoming information to preexisting knowledge structures ( Brod, Werkle-Bergner, & Shing, 2013 ; Kroes & Fernández, 2012 ; Preston & Eichenbaum, 2013 ; van Kesteren, Ruiter, Fernández, & Henson, 2012 ).

The integration of multiple representations may be particularly important for autobiographical remembering and future thinking, which inherently involve different types or levels of self-related information ( Conway, 2005 ; D’Argembeau & Mathy, 2011 ). For example, there is evidence that specific memories and future thoughts are often part of higher-order autobiographical knowledge structures that organize specific events in broader themes and causal sequences—referred to as event clusters ( Brown & Schopflocher, 1998 ; D’Argembeau & Demblon, 2012 ). In a recent fMRI study, we found that the processing of such event clusters is associated with increased activation in the mPFC and with greater functional coupling between the mPFC and posterior regions supporting semantic and episodic representations ( Demblon, Bahri, & D’Argembeau, 2016 ). These findings suggest that the function of the mPFC during autobiographical remembering and future thinking might be to integrate specific event representations with higher-order autobiographical knowledge (e.g., personal goals and general knowledge about one’s life). Through this integrative process, the mPFC might contribute to contextualize specific event representations within an individual’s life story, thus rendering memories and future thoughts truly autobiographical.

On the Possible Functions of Spontaneous Self-Referential Thought

The fact that mind-wandering is such a pervasive experience makes it unlikely that it merely consists in a lapse of attention with no intrinsic value. On the contrary, there is growing evidence suggesting that mind-wandering may serve adaptive functions, such as planning ( Baird et al., 2011 ) and problem-solving ( Ruby, Smallwood, Sackur, et al., 2013 ).

The main function of mind-wandering might be to allow the mental simulation of alternatives to the here and now, and in particular to envision possible futures. As mentioned earlier, most mind-wandering episodes indeed involve future-oriented and goal-related contents. The wandering mind may anticipate a variety of future events, conceive possible ways to attain or avoid envisioned situations, and predict the probable outcomes of different courses of action. In turn, these mental simulations may be used to inform decisions and behaviors. Many mind-wandering episodes are subjectively perceived as fulfilling such future-oriented functions—evaluating and planning for possible situations, making decisions, and solving problems ( Stawarczyk et al., 2013 ; Stawarczyk, Majerus, Maj, et al., 2011 ). Although the extent to which such future-oriented thoughts are beneficial in guiding decisions and behavior remains to be investigated in detail, recent evidence suggests that this might be the case. For example, a recent study suggests that mind-wandering can help people to better specify their goals and plans, which might lead to more effective goal achievement ( Medea et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, it has also been found that mind-wandering ( Smallwood, Ruby, & Singer, 2013 ) and future thinking ( Lin & Epstein, 2014 ) are associated with reduced delay discounting (i.e., with a greater capacity to resist the temptation of an immediate reward in favor of receiving a larger reward later in the future). Interestingly, neuroimaging studies suggest that the mPFC might mediate this effect of future-oriented thoughts on farsighted decisions ( Benoit, Gilbert, & Burgess, 2011 ; Bernhardt et al., 2014 ; Peters & Buchel, 2010a ).

Another potentially important function of mind-wandering may be to contribute to our sense of personal identity. People in modern societies construct their personal identity by creating an evolving life story that integrates past, present, and possible future experiences in such a way as to provide their lives with some degree of unity, purpose, and meaning ( McAdams, 2001 ; J. A. Singer, Blagov, Berry, & Oost, 2013 ). The construction of such narratives critically depends on autobiographical reasoning, a process of reflective thinking through which we form links between disparate elements of our life and the self ( Habermas & Bluck, 2000 ). Autobiographical reasoning helps in establishing personal identity and continuity across change, and research has shown the importance of this process for identity development, maturity, and well-being ( King, Scollon, Ramsey, & Williams, 2000 ; Lilgendahl & McAdams, 2011 ; McLean & Pratt, 2006 ; Raffard et al., 2010 ; J. A. Singer, Rexhaj, & Baddeley, 2007 ). Intriguingly, a recent study ( D’Argembeau et al., 2014 ) has shown that the neural correlates of autobiographical reasoning closely correspond to a dorsomedial prefrontal subsystem of the default network, which might play a broad role in introspective processes ( Andrews-Hanna, 2012 ). Although this issue remains to be investigated in detail, this might suggest that spontaneous self-referential thought plays a role in reflecting on the broader meaning and implications of personal experiences, thereby contributing to the construction, maintenance, and update of an individual’s life story. In addition, frequent mental trips to the past and future during the mind-wandering state might also provide a more direct, experiential sense of continuity of the self through time ( Prebble, Addis, & Tippett, 2013 ). Through these processes, the wandering mind might thus contribute to the creation and functional maintenance of self-models, which then lay the foundation for long-term motivation and future planning ( Metzinger, 2013 ).

When our attention is not entirely focused on the external environment, various thoughts and mental images tend to spontaneously populate our minds. These spontaneous mentations frequently involve personally significant contents and often focus on future, goal-related events. Neuroimaging research suggests that the activity of a specific set of brain regions, largely corresponding to the default network, correlates with the formation of self-referential thoughts during the mind-wandering or resting state. The specific areas that are recruited depend on the content and specificity of the mental representation under consideration, but the mPFC appears to play a broad role in processing various types of self-related contents. While the specific function of this brain region remains to be investigated in detail, current evidence suggests that it might process the subjective value of self-related information and/or integrate multiple representations in the service of self-referential thought. Overall, the tendency of the wandering mind to focus on self-related contents may foster one’s sense of personal identity and may serve adaptive functions, such as planning and long-term goal pursuit.

Acknowledgments

Arnaud D’Argembeau is supported by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS, Belgium.

Mind-wandering involves “a shift in the contents of thought away from an ongoing task and/or from events in the external environment to self-generated thoughts and feelings” ( Smallwood & Schooler, 2015 ). Importantly, however, mind-wandering is a type of thought that is characterized not only by its content, but also by its spontaneous and dynamic nature; it involves thoughts that arise freely due to an absence of strong constraints on thought contents and on the transitions from one thought to another ( Christoff, Irving, Fox, Spreng, & Andrews-Hanna, 2016 ). In empirical research on mind-wandering, terms referring to the content (such as “task-unrelated” and “stimulus-independent” thought) or the spontaneous nature of mind-wandering are sometimes used interchangeably, which is problematic because these terms designate separable dimensions of thought ( Christoff et al., 2016 ). Whenever possible, in this chapter I use the term “task-unrelated thought” when describing empirical research that investigated mind-wandering from a content-based perspective (i.e., by assessing the contents of thoughts in terms of their relationship to an ongoing task or activity), and the term “spontaneous thought” when describing research that assessed the unconstrained nature of thoughts.

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Alzheimer's and dementia: Understand wandering and how to address it
Wandering and becoming lost is common among people with Alzheimer's disease or other disorders causing dementia. This behavior can happen in the early stages of dementia — even if the person has never wandered in the past. Understand wandering If a person with dementia is returning from regular walks or drives later than usual or […]
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Wandering is a complex behavioral phenomenon that is frequent in dementia. Approximately 20% of community-dwelling individuals with dementia and 60% of those living in institutionalized settings are reported to wander.2 Most definitions of wandering incorporate a variety of dementia-related locomotion activities, including elopement (ie ...
Wandering
Wandering. Alzheimer's disease causes people to lose their ability to recognize familiar places and faces. It's common for a person living with dementia to wander or become lost or confused about their location, and it can happen at any stage of the disease. Six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once; many do so repeatedly.
Wandering in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia
Are you the caregiver for someone with Alzheimer's disease or dementia? Do they have the tendency to want to wander away? Wandering is a common behavior in patients with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. And once the individual begins to show signs of wandering behaviors, they are at a high-risk of wandering away or becoming lost.
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Many people with Alzheimer's disease wander away from their home or caregiver. As the caregiver, you need to know how to limit wandering and prevent the person from becoming lost. This will help keep the person safe and give you greater peace of mind.
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Wandering thoughts during idle time Some people find it easier to be alone with their thoughts than others. Rumination — the tendency to become fixated or stuck on particular, often negative ...
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Abstract Wandering behavior is common in patients with dementia. The purpose of this literature review was to define wandering, describe the factors of wandering and analyze different interventions and nursing skill of managing this behavior.
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There are a variety of causes of wandering in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia, including: Medication. Occasionally, certain types of medication can cause wandering in dementia patients. Searching. It is a simple explanation, but one of the most common reasons for wandering is searching. Often, a wanderer is looking for a ...
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The meaning of WANDERING is characterized by aimless, slow, or pointless movement. How to use wandering in a sentence.
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Our Tendency to Mind Wander Humans on average spend up to half of their waking hours mind wandering. There are differences across individuals in their tendency to mind wander and many factors that affect this tendency. For instance, older adults on average tend to mind wander less than younger adults.
PDF Chapter 20 Mind Wandering: More than a Bad Habit
e in more deliberate, controlled mind wandering. We have also seen that people differ in their tendency to mind wander habitually (i.e. without meta-awareness and intention), and that people experience differ
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We proposed an integration hypothesis of mind wandering in which the tendency of mind wandering is only related to working memory capacity (WMC) when …
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Wandering/elopement is the tendency for an individual to leave the safety of a responsible person's care or safe area, which may result in potential harm or injury. This might include running off from adults at school or in the community, leaving the classroom without permission, or exiting the house when the family is not aware.
WANDER
WANDER definition: 1. to walk around slowly in a relaxed way or without any clear purpose or direction: 2. If…. Learn more.
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The meaning of WANDERING EYE is a tendency to look at and have sexual thoughts about other people while already in a romantic relationship. How to use wandering eye in a sentence.
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Synonyms for WANDER: roam, drift, stroll, cruise, float, meander, rove, traipse; Antonyms of WANDER: justify, forgive, pardon, regret, repent, rue
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Mind wandering and mindfulness are often described as divergent mental states with opposing effects on cognitive performance and mental health. Spontaneous mind wandering is typically associated with self-reflective states that contribute to negative processing of the past, worrying/fantasizing about the future, and disruption of primary task ...
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In each scale, scored on 8 points, higher scores indicate better prospective memory abilities or more frequent strategy use. We also used the Mind Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ; [ 28 ]), a self-report 5-item questionnaire that evaluates our participants' natural tendency to experience episodes of mind wandering.
ATTENTION WANDERS definition and meaning
ATTENTION WANDERS definition | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples
15 Mind-Wandering and Self-Referential Thought
The tendency of the wandering mind to focus on self-related information might foster a sense of personal identity and lay the foundation for long-term goal pursuit. Keywords: mind wandering, spontaneous thought, self, autobiographical memory, goals, future thinking, medial prefrontal cortex, default network

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Meaning of wander in English

wander verb ( MOVE AROUND )

wander verb ( SUBJECT )

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wander | American Dictionary

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Where Is My Mind…? The Link between Mind Wandering and Prospective Memory

Marco Sperduti

Pascale Piolino

1. Introduction

2. Materials and Methods

2.1.2. Materials

2.2. Overall Conduct

2.3. Experience Sampling

2.3.2. Prospective Memory Assessment

2.3.3. Questionnaires

2.4. Data Analysis

3.1. Consistency of Mind Wandering’s Measure

3.2. Consistency of Prospective Memory’s Measure

3.3. Predictors of PM Correct Ratio

4. Discussion

4.1. Validation of the Mind Wandering’s Experimental Protocol

4.2. Validation of the Prospective Memory’s Experimental Protocol

4.3. Investigating the Link between MW and MP

5. Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Supplementary Materials

Funding Statement

Author Contributions

Institutional Review Board Statement