Reminiscing Can Help Boost Mental Performance

New research shows for the first time that engaging brain areas linked to off-task mental activities, such as daydreaming and reminiscing, can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks. Researchers developed a new approach in which off-task processes, such as reminiscing, can support rather than conflict with the aims of the experimental task. Their task tested whether accessing long-term memory about famous people, which typically engages default network brain regions, can support short-term memory performance, which typically engages executive control regions. While undergoing brain scanning, 36 young adults viewed sets of famous and anonymous faces in sequence and were asked to identify whether the current face matched the one presented two faces back. The team found participants were faster and more accurate when matching famous faces than when matching anonymous faces and that this better short-term memory performance was associated with greater activity in the default network. The results show that activity in the default brain regions can support performance on goal-directed tasks when task demands align with processes supported by the default network. To learn more about this study, click here.