Why You Should Daydream

Ona daily basis, you spend between a third and half of your waking hours daydreaming. That may sound like a huge waste of time, but scientists think it must have some purpose, or humans wouldn’t have evolved to do so much of it. So to figure out what’s going on here, let’s take a closer look at the mind-wanderer in chief: the bored teenager.

The Curious Mind of a Teenager

Wouldn’t it be cool to discover something, anything? Like even this plant. Just to be one of those explorers who sails around drawing stuff for years on end, and everyone thinks they’re a genius.

But does anyone even do that anymore? Is there anything left to discover? And would I be tough enough to deal with dysentery, scurvy, or piranhas?

I barely have the endurance to make it through track practice… but I will. Any day now, I’ll have the discipline to show up before sunrise and practice. I’ll win all my races. Winning will become so easy, I’ll pick up other events just for fun.

And once I’m in the Olympics, they’ll have no choice but to crown me team captain, which I will graciously accept. And will I be nasty to the teammate who yelled at me? No. I’ll just calmly say, “Hope you’re in a better mood.”

Understanding the Brain’s Role in Daydreaming

Okay, your daydreams might sound or feel something like that. Let’s see what was going on. To see what parts of the brain are active when you’re doing a task, thinking, or daydreaming, scientists use brain imaging techniques that show increased blood flow and energy expenditure in those areas. These brain areas are active, working together, and communicating with each other. Taken together, they’re called the executive network.

The Default Mode Network

When your mind starts to wander, a different set of brain areas becomes active. These areas make up the default mode network. The name ‘default mode’ makes it sound like nothing is going on. And in fact, for many years, scientists associated this pattern of activity with rest.

But a closer look reveals that these are the brain areas involved when we revisit a memory, think about our plans and hopes, and yes, when our minds are wandering off on a wild daydream.

The Different Paths of Mind-Wandering

The mind can wander to unproductive or distressing places and brood over negative past events, like an argument. It can also wander to neutral, everyday matters, like planning out the rest of one’s afternoon. But where mind-wandering really gets interesting is when it crosses into the realm of free-moving associative thought that you aren’t consciously directing.

The Connection Between Daydreaming and Creativity

This kind of mind-wandering is associated with increases in both ideas and positive emotions, and evidence suggests that daydreaming can help people envision ways to reach their goals and navigate relationships and social situations. Scientists think there may be two essential parts to this process:

A generative phase of free-flowing ideas and spontaneous thoughts, courtesy of the default mode network.
A process of selecting, developing, and pursuing the best ideas from that generative burst, driven by logical thinking thanks to the executive network.

A host of imaging studies suggest that these two networks working in sync is a crucial condition for creative thinking.

The Interplay Between Brain Networks

Taken together, the evidence clearly suggests that the logical realm of the executive network and the imaginative realm of the default mode network are closely related. And as you can see, the executive network is still playing a role when the default mode network is active during daydreaming.

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In teenagers, the prefrontal cortex and other areas involved in executive function are still developing. But teens are perfectly capable of thinking through their problems and goals, especially when given space to do so on their own.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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