The impact of state and dispositional mindfulness on prospective memory: A virtual reality study

Time, valence, and imagination: a comparative study of thoughts in restricted and unrestricted mind wandering

William James' "stream of thought" is a key component of human cognition. Such thoughts arise in both restricted and unrestricted contexts, either with or without the presence of a secondary task. This study examines the similarities and differences in thoughts produced in these two contexts, which we call restricted and unrestricted mind wandering. Participants performed a mindfulness task representing restricted mind wandering and an unrestricted thought task where they spontaneously explored thoughts, reporting them as they arose. Participants then self-rated their thoughts based on valence, temporal orientation (past/present/future), and reality orientation (imaginary vs. real). Participants' emotional states were also evaluated using the Emotion Recall Task (ERT) and the PANAS questionnaire. Unrestricted mind wandering generated more thoughts, which were more positive and future-oriented than those in restricted mind wandering. Additionally, participants' thought valence correlated with their PANAS and ERT scores. Approximately 1 out of 4 thoughts in both restricted and unrestricted mind wandering were imaginary, with increased future orientation linked to more imaginative thought. Despite the statistical differences separating restricted and unrestricted thought, effect sizes were predominantly small, indicating that the thoughts arise during these two types of mind wandering are largely of the same kind.

The benefits of mind wandering on a naturalistic prospective memory task

Mind wandering (MW) occurs when our attention spontaneously shifts from the task at hand to inner thoughts. MW is often future-oriented and may help people remember to carry out their planned actions (Prospective Memory, PM). Past-oriented MW might also play a critical role in boosting PM performance. Sixty participants learned 24 PM items and recalled them during an immersive virtual walk in a town. The items were divided into event-based-EB and time-based-TB. During the PM retention phase, participants were randomly assigned to a high or a low cognitive load condition, in order to manipulate MW frequency. Some PM items were encoded before this MW manipulation (pre-PM) and some during the virtual walk (post-PM). A high MW frequency was linked with better global PM performances. Spontaneous past-oriented MW predicted better pre-EB retrospective PM retrieval, while spontaneous future-oriented MW predicted better Pre-EB prospective PM retrieval. Voluntary future-oriented MW predicted better post-EB retrospective retrieval. We highlighted, for the first time, a differential impact of spontaneous MW content depending on the PM component (retrospective or prospective). Past-oriented MW is crucial for (re)consolidating PM intentions, and episodic future thinking MW for the execution of PM intentions. We discuss the twofold functional role of MW, namely, to consolidate an already programmed intention and to plan future actions.

Reliability of self-reported dispositional mindfulness scales and their association with working memory performance and functional connectivity

We systematically investigated the link between trait mindfulness scores and functional connectivity (FC) features or behavioral data, to emphasize the importance of the reliability of self-report mindfulness scores. Sixty healthy young male participants underwent two functional MRI runs with three mindfulness or mind-wandering task blocks with an N-back task (NBT) block. The data from 49 participants (age: 23.3 ± 2.8) for whom two sets of the self-reported Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and NBT performance were available were analyzed. We divided participants into two groups based on the consistency level of their MAAS scores (i.e., a "consistent" and an "inconsistent" group). Then, the association between the MAAS scores and FC features or NBT performance was investigated using linear regression analysis with p-value correction and bootstrapping. Meaningful associations (a) between MAAS and NBT accuracy (slope = 0.41, CI = [0.10, 0.73], corrected p < 0.05), (b) between MAAS and the FC edges in the frontoparietal network, and (c) between the FC edges and NBT performance were only observed in the consistent group (n = 26). Our findings demonstrate the importance of appropriate screening mechanisms for self-report-based dispositional mindfulness scores when trait mindfulness scores are combined with neuronal features and behavioral data.

Where Is My Mind…? The Link between Mind Wandering and Prospective Memory

Mind wandering (MW) is a common feature of the human experience occurring when our attention shifts from the task at hand to inner thoughts. MW seems to be often future-oriented and could be used to help people to carry out their planned actions (Prospective Memory PM). Here, we tested the link between MW and the ability to perform PM intentions. We assessed MW and PM over 15 days using experience-sampling probes via mobile phone (226 participants) associated with a naturalistic PM task. We confirmed that MW occupies a significant proportion of our mental activity (40%). This time seems to be mainly used to project ourselves into the future (64%), whether to anticipate and imagine the long term (20%) or to plan daily obligations (44%). Intriguingly, only past-oriented thoughts (9%) predict the PM performance. We discuss the possible functional role played by MW in maintaining intentions in mind.

The role of semantic memory in prospective memory and episodic future thinking: new insights from a case of semantic dementia

Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to execute planned actions, and episodic future thinking (EFT), the ability to imagine future personal events, are two core aspects of future-oriented cognition. The present study aimed for the first time at examining the role of semantic memory loss in PM and EFT in a single case patient (SL) at the early stage of semantic dementia.First, we investigated various types of PM as well as episodic memory of new events using a validated ecological assessment via virtual reality. Second, we examined EFT using a temporally extended version of the TEMPau task, which measures episodic aspects of remembering the past and imagining the future taking temporal distance into account.Patient SL was deficient in semantically linked event-based PM and was unable to provide any EFT for the most distant period but was preserved in other types of PM and near and intermediate EFT.These findings provide new evidence on the role of semantic memory in PM depending on the type of intention and in EFT depending on the temporal distance mirroring autobiographical memory. Finally, they point out a specific link between PM and near EFT in future-oriented cognition.

Mindfulness and false memories: state and dispositional mindfulness does not increase false memories for naturalistic scenes presented in a virtual environment

Mindfulness attracted increased research interests in the last decade, reporting an overall beneficial effect of this practice on cognitive performances. Nevertheless, recently a possible detrimental impact of mindfulness has been underlined. While the effect of mindfulness on memory remains under-explored, recent studies have observed an increased false-memory susceptibility after mindfulness practice. A possible explanatory mechanism has been suggested, related to the nature of the studied material. For semantically related information, mindfulness would increase false memories; however, the addition of rich perceptual information could prevent this detrimental effect. The present study aimed to verify this hypothesis by testing the impact of state mindfulness induced by a short meditation session, and dispositional mindfulness on the production of false memory for pictorial material presented in a complex virtual environment. We employed a virtual reality version of the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm (DRM), a classical protocol to induce false memories. Contrary to previous studies, we did not observe any effect of mindfulness on false or correct memories (free recall and recognition) after a short mindfulness practice session compared to a control condition. Nonetheless, we found a beneficial effect of mindfulness practice on memory sensitivity. Additionally, we reported a positive and negative effect of dispositional mindfulness on memory outcomes. While the Non-Reactivity facet was associated with overall better memory performances, we observed an association between the Acting with Awareness facet and an increased recollection of lures. We discuss these findings in line with a recent proposal on the link between mindfulness and episodic memory.