I don’t feel your pain (as much): The desensitizing effect of mind wandering on the perception of others’ discomfort

Abstract

Mind wandering reduces both the sensory and cognitive processing of affectively neutral stimuli, but whether it also modulates the processing of affectively salient stimuli remains unclear. In particular, we examined whether mind wandering attenuates one's sensitivity to observing mild pain in others. In the first experiment, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as participants viewed images of hands in either painful or neutral situations, while being prompted at random intervals to report whether their thoughts were on task or mind wandering. We found that the brain's later response to painful images was significantly reduced immediately preceding "mind-wandering" versus "on-task" reports, as measured via amplitude decreases in a frontal-central positivity beginning approximately 300 ms poststimulus. In a second, control experiment using behavioral measures, we wanted to confirm whether the subjective sense of pain observed in others does in fact decrease during mind wandering. Accordingly, we asked participants to rate how painful the hand images looked on a 5-point Likert scale, again while taking reports of their mind-wandering states at unpredictable intervals. Consistent with our ERP data, we found that the ratings for painful images were significantly reduced immediately preceding mind-wandering reports. Additional control analyses suggested that the effect could not simply be ascribed to general habituation in the affective response to painful images over time. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that mind wandering can directly modulate the cortical processing of affectively salient stimulus inputs, serving in this case to reduce sensitivity to the physical discomfort of others.

The neurocognitive consequences of the wandering mind: a mechanistic account of sensory-motor decoupling

“…Likewise, our second experiment showed a corresponding behavioral effect, that is, a reduction of painfulness ratings of painful stimuli during mind wandering episodes (Kam et al, 2013b). Together, our findings suggest that mind wandering reduces our cognitive evaluation of external inputs even for affectively salient stimuli.…”

Visual asymmetry revisited: Mind wandering preferentially disrupts processing in the left visual field

“…The absence of attentional state modulations in the behavioral measure highlights the importance and utility of ERP measures in examining the underlying neural mechanism that may not manifest as differences in manual reaction times. In addition, other EPR studies have that mind wandering periods are associated with disruptions in a range of cognitive responses, including stimulus evaluation and categorization (Barron, Riby, Greer, & Smallwood, 2011;O'Connell et al, 2009;Smallwood, Beach, Schooler, & Handy, 2008), affective processing (Kam, Xu, & Handy, 2014), and performance monitoring (Kam, Dao, Stanciulescu, Tildesley, & Handy, 2013). Of relevance, given that visual stimuli used in these previous studies have been presented along the midline of the visual field (e.g., Barron et al, 2011;Kam et al, 2011;Smallwood et al, 2008), to what extent would we observe a similar attenuation of sensory gain to task-irrelevant visual stimuli across both hemifields?…”

Spontaneous Thought and Goal Pursuit: From Functions such as Planning to Dysfunctions such as Rumination

“…Since the publication of this review, Mrazek, Phillips, et al (2013) have similarly reported impaired reading comprehension associated with prompt-assessed mind-wandering. A number of further studies have found additional costs: attentional lapses associated with impaired performance on the Stroop task (Unsworth & McMillan, 2014), a significant relationship between mind-wandering proclivity and frequency of falls in older adults, presumably at least partly because of inattention to external stimuli (Nagamatsu et al, 2013), particularly in the left visual field (Kam, Nagamatsu, & Handy, 2014), and reduced empathic responses to others' physical discomfort, as assessed by participants' ratings and electrophysiologically with event-related potentials (Kam, Xu, & Handy, 2014). By contrast, when leaving aside its perseverative, ruminative forms, mindwandering appears unrelated to most measures of health Ottaviani, Shapiro, & Couyoumdjian, 2013).…”