There’s a very good reason to let daydreamers dream away

If you have yourself a little daydreamer at home, there might be good reason not to have them snap out of it so quickly.

We know daydreaming is good for our imagination and it’s an extremely natural thing to do - wondering off into another world entirely while we stare into space. But research is showing that it also helps boost our ability to run on autopilot in future because the same part of the brain is being used. Basically by daydreaming we’re giving it some exercise. Researchers at the University of Cambridge refer to brain regions known as the “default mode network” (DMN). This part of the brain is active when we daydream or when we are thinking about the future or the past. They studied a total of 28 people and asked them to match a particular card with another from a group of four, that were subsequently chosen by the research team. During this time, brain activity was being monitored while folks tried to assess if the card was supposed to be matched by colour, shape or number. The idea was that the 28 volunteers had to learn a new card rule and figure it out through trial and error. Throughout this time activity in the dorsal attention network was shown to be more active. Once they learned the rule, the DMN region enabled them to become better at the given task if this DMN activity was associated with the hippocampus -  that part of our brain associated with memory. Essentially, DMN allows us to predict what is going to happen and reduces our need to think deeply about the task we’re trying to complete. We can do things while not being self-aware or cognitively in the present. Lead author Deniz Vatansever said;

“It is essentially like an autopilot that helps us make fast decisions when we know what the rules of the environment are. “When you’re driving to work in the morning along a familiar route, the default mode network will be active, enabling us to perform our task without having to invest lots of time and energy into decisions.”

So, an added safety feature perhaps? Although, let’s not rely on it! Researchers are hoping their study can be of benefit to those suffering from depression, addiction or any condition that could drive automatic thinking patterns which are destructive, resulting in negative behaviour. DMN regions are more active when we are relaxed or sleeping but this same area can behave abnormally in someone with Alzeimer’s, schizophrenia or ADHD.