Brain, sleep and memory · 1 min read
Before attention lapsed, slow waves like those in sleep appeared
In 26 well-rested adults, slow waves appeared before mind wandering or blanking out; their locations coincided with different errors.
The study, in plain language
Participants responded to faces or numbers and had to stop their response when a certain signal appeared. Every so often the task paused and a question asked them to describe where their attention was: on the task, on other thoughts, or on nothing in particular.
Before these lapses, the team found slow waves similar to those that appear as people approach sleep. Waves in frontal regions coincided with faster responses and more errors from responding when they should have stopped. Waves in posterior regions coincided with slower responses and missed responses.
Thus, signal location was associated with two different ways of losing track. Participants were rested, not sleep-deprived, and their lapses could be described as either mind wandering or mind blanking. The team observed without intervening, so the study cannot say the waves caused the lapses.
The key idea
Where slow waves appeared coincided with different ways of losing track and making mistakes.
Something to think about
The next time you notice you have drifted from a task, consider how alert you were. This work helps describe these lapses, not explain why they happen to you.
The original study
Predicting lapses of attention with sleep-like slow waves
Source under CC BY 4.0. English adaptation and explanation by PaperFlow, with AI assistance. The text has been reorganized for a general audience; it is not the complete paper and does not imply endorsement by its authors.
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