Schedule of Events | Symposia

fMRI Exploration Of Mind-Wandering And Memory Consolidation

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 5:00 – 7:00 pm EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 1 - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT, Grand Ballroom.

Devayani Joshi¹ (dj584@drexel.edu), Aaron Kucyi¹, Alexa Tompary¹; ¹Drexel University

Mind-wandering, which involves spontaneous thoughts that shift attention to internal processes, is often associated with impaired memory. However, the potential benefits of mind-wandering immediately following learning are not well understood. Quiet rest after learning supports memory consolidation—the process of integrating new information into long-term memory—and provides an ideal environment for mind-wandering. This study explores how mind-wandering during rest relates to neural signatures of systems-level consolidation and consequent memory outcomes. In the study, forty participants learned associations between objects and scenes before spending 40 minutes resting awake in an fMRI scanner. During this resting period, they reported whether they were mind-wandering and described their spontaneous thoughts through experience sampling every minute. Memory tests were administered immediately after the learning session and again after a 24-hour delay. Behavioral analyses showed a positive correlation between reported mind-wandering and performance on the delayed memory test. Using multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA), fMRI results revealed that spontaneous memory reactivation counts were higher after learning compared to before learning. Interestingly, greater reactivation counts were associated with poorer memory performance. These findings suggest that while mind-wandering during rest may facilitate long-term memory consolidation, the role of hippocampal reactivation is complex and requires further investigation. Future analyses will investigate how the default mode network (DMN) contributes to the relationship between spontaneous mental processes and memory outcomes.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic