There is scientific proof that daydreaming is not a sign of laziness or irresponsibility or lack of seriousness. University of British Columbia neuroscientists discovered in testing that when a person drifts into a daydream, there is high activity in regions of the brain dedicated to high-level thought and complex problem-solving.
Previously, scientists believed that only the “default network” of the brain, which is linked to easy routine mental activity, was in use when the mind wanders. In other words, when you’re in slacker mode, not much activity is going on in your brain. Turns out that isn’t so. Studies have shown that the part of the brain called the “executive network,” which deals with complex, high level thought processes, lit up in the MRI scans. Interestingly, the less a subject was aware that he or she was daydreaming, the more that both “default” and “executive” networks were activated.
This shows that our brains are active when we daydream, even more so than when we perform mundane tasks.
Researcher Kalina Christoff tells LiveScience.com that people are wrong to assume that when the mind wanders away, it’s “turned off.” On average, people spend about one third of their awake time in reverie. During that time, we may not be paying attention to the meeting, class or conversation at hand, but the mind may be taking that time to address more important questions.
Of course, those of us who are writers know that. We’re always mulling over that new plot twist, or how to get our character in more trouble than he already is.
