1 week Ago
From boring lectures to long meetings, zoning out is very common, when you stop paying attention to what's going on around you and stare into space, tuning out the external world for a bit. As you snap back, you might feel guilty for not paying attention. But it turns out it's not really something to be concerned about.
In fact, these occasional moments of spacing out may actually benefit you more than you realise. A study published in The Journal of Neuroscience explained that mind wandering isn't a bad thing and instead revealed how it has surprising benefits. ALSO READ: The secret soldiers knew: How to make your brain switch off pain like a light, without using painkillers What was the experiment? The researchers conducted an experiment where the participants were asked to do a computer-based task.
But in reality, the task had secret patterns which the participants were not aware of, nor were they explicitly instructed to look for them. This unclear instruction was to evaluate the unconscious learning of the brain. So when the participants' minds wandered (the researchers detected this through brainwaves measured by EEG caps), they found that after zoning out and returning to the task, the participants were actually better at detecting the hidden patterns.
They by themselves solved the tasks. Useful mental function What’s even more surprising is that the brain activity is similar to when we are sleeping . When the brain zones out, it produces slow-wave patterns which resemble certain stages of sleep.
So, mind wandering may actually be giving the brain ‘mini rest periods’ while we are awake. And much like how sleep strengthens memory, these brief space-outs give the brain time to process the information at hand. The researchers even suggested that this drifting away of the mind is actually useful.
Many may condemn these moments as distractions, but it’s a way for our brains to process information more efficiently, albeit discreetly, but nonetheless, it's effective. The researchers, based on the findings, reminded us of the importance of taking short mental breaks instead of working continuously. These short breaks help us learn better, giving the brain time to process information.
It’s a learning lesson for all of us, so next time you space out, don’t be hard on yourself. That’s just your brain’s way of making sense of things and connecting the dots in its own way. ALSO READ: Want to stay sharp? This simple habit can boost your brainpower for decades Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition..
