Schedule of Events | Symposia

Exploring the Stream of Consciousness: Using Precision fMRI to Investigate the Dynamics of Thought

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Desmond Wood-Anderson¹ (dwoodanderson@psych.ubc.ca), Andre Zamani¹, Nicholas Zhu¹, Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva¹; ¹University of British Columbia

The dynamic features of thought (how mental states change over time) are important for distinguishing between different forms of thought, such as goal-directed thought, rumination, and mind-wandering. The dynamic framework of thought (DFT) outlines two categories of constraints on thought; deliberate constraints, based on cognitive control mechanisms, and automatic constraints, based on mechanisms such as emotional salience and mental habits. The DFT predicts that these constraints rely on differential recruitment of large-scale functional networks, especially the default network (DN), frontoparietal control network (FPCN), and salience network (SN).  This study aims to test the DFT’s predictions using a neurophenomenological approach. Participants were probed at pseudo-random intervals ranging from 45 to 70 seconds (mean = 54s) to report the degree to which their thoughts were ‘freely moving’ or ‘actively directed,’ using a 1- 6 scale (1 = not at all, 6 = very much), while resting in the MRI scanner. We used these questions to infer the presence of deliberate or automatic constraints on thought, and conversely, the relative absence of constraints (spontaneous thought). We employed a precision fMRI approach, densely sampling subjects to identify large-scale networks at the individual level.  Results indicate that FC within key networks in the 10s window leading up to the probes distinguishes between thought dynamics: freely moving thought is associated with greater FC within the DN than constrained thought, while FC within FPCN is greater when thoughts are directed.

Topic Area: THINKING: Other