Abstract

We spend a substantial amount of our waking time mind-wandering. Despite popular belief, I do not think that is a bad thing necessarily. It can be very useful for planning and creativity. Mind-wandering only becomes harmful when it is so "sticky" that it is difficult to disengage from, and therefore interferes with other important tasks of life. For this reason, I am very interested in tracking such sticky thinking in the lab. I will demonstrate different methods to assess sticky thinking, for example based on computerized tasks or based on EEG. I will show how rumination may be a particular example of sticky thinking, and how this sticky thinking differs between individuals who are more versus less depressed.  Finally, I will present my ideas on how different contemplative practices may help to reduce the stickiness of our thinking.

About the speaker

Marieke van Vugt is an associate professor at the Bernoulli Institute of Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial intelligence of the University of Groningen (Netherlands). She obtained her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania and followed this by a postdoc at Princeton University before starting her own group as a tenure track assistant professor in Groningen in 2010.

The research in Dr. van Vugt's lab focuses on how, when and why we mind-wander, and what the fundamental cognitive operations are that underlie meditation and mindfulness. She investigates these questions using a combination of computational modeling, neuroscience, and experimental psychology tools. In recent years, she also started to investigate how inter-brain synchrony is involved in social connection in the real-life settings of Tibetan monastic debate and dance performances.

Free of charge - All are welcome