Daydreaming Science: Your Brain’s Built-In Idea Playground

Wait—Isn’t Daydreaming Just Zoning Out?

I used to think so, too. Then I fell down a rabbit hole of research papers and discovered that our wandering minds are anything but lazy. Scientists map daydreaming onto a powerful brain circuit called the default-mode network (DMN). When we’re “doing nothing,” the DMN lights up, busily knitting together memories, future plans, and wild new ideas. (PMC)

Meet the Default-Mode Network (DMN)—a Brain Wi-Fi for Ideas

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