"SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT IS A HIGHER COGNITIVE FUNCTION" or why my 3rd grade teacher was wrong about me....

I was like any other 3rd grade boy. I spent most of my day engaged in daydreaming about a whole range of things. From why Yoda sounded so much like Kermit the Frog, to new ways to capture and torture the local insect population for my sport and pleasure. But this third grade boy had a problem. My teacher just happened to have grown up with, and was still best friends with, my grandmother. Therefore, I was the recipient of the special attention that comes from a personal connection, a genuine affection and caring for the outcome of my academic career. In my eyes, it meant that I didn't get away with anything.

Anytime I wasn't performing to my perceived academic ability, my grandmother knew about it before I even walked in the door from school that day. My grandmother would then attempt to stimulate my brain by applying a belt to my backside. This generally worked well and served to curtail my classroom 'spontaneous thought' excursions.

Recently, there has been a lot of research into exactly what the brain is doing during these daydreaming sessions. There are generally believed to by 2 types of thought, goal directed thought and spontaneous thought. Goal directed thought is used in active problem solving, such as those math questions like,"if a train left New York traveling to California at 50mph, what is the price of eggs in China?" Goal directed thought is linked with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex. These are executive centers of the brain and the seat of executive function. Spontaneous thought happens when the executive centers quiet down and the "default network" along with areas in the temporal lobe fire up. Default network regions lie largely along the midline of the brain and include, most prominently, the medial prefrontal cortex, the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, the precuneus and the posterior parietal lobule. This default network, combined with the areas of the temporal lobe, constitute a significantly larger area of brain real estate than what is active during solving the math word problem.

So when my 3rd grade teacher assumed I was mentally lazy because I daydreamed a lot in her class, she was wrong. I was actually using more of my brain than the girl sitting next to me who always knew the answer to that stupid math word problem.

These areas used in spontaneous thinking are also active in creative problem solving, and the brain will actually dampen other brain activity just prior to the moment of insight. (kinda like blocking out noise so you can think) So the best way to come up with a creative solution to your problem, is to research all your facts, and then go for a walk and daydream.

Now my third grade teacher has long since passed away, but I can still hear her voice in my head calling me back to the task at hand sometimes. I loved her dearly and I'm deeply appreciative of the loving attention she gave me and my academic career. However, in this instance, I was actually doing a good thing by daydreaming in her class. Besides who actually travels to California by train these days?

Christoff, K., Gordon, A. M., Smallwood, J., Smith, R., & Schooler, J. W. (2009). Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106 (21): 8719-8724

Christoff, K., Gordon, A. & Smith, R. (in press). The role of spontaneous thought in human cognition. In: Neuroscience of Decision Making (Eds: O. Vartanian and D.R. Mandel). Psychology Press.

Christoff, K., Ream, J.M. and Gabrieli, J.D.E. (2004). Cognitive and neural basis of spontaneous thought processes. Cortex, 40: 623-630.