What Your Brain Is Really Doing When You're Doing 'Nothing'

[@QuantaScienceChannel]

Read the related article at Quanta Magazine: www.quantamagazine.org/what-your-brain-is-doing-when-youre-not-doing-anything-20240205/ Papers mentioned in the video: - "A default mode of brain function" (Raichle et al., 2001) www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.98.2.676 - "Functional connectivity in the resting brain: A network analysis of the default mode hypothesis" (Greicius et el., 2001) www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0135058100 - "20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis" (Menon, 2023) www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0896627323003082?via%3Dihub - "Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain" (Siegel et al., 2024) www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07624-5

[@Sara-q2g]

Can I know the name of the program that you use for animation

[@TaLeng2023]

Whenever I'm idle, my brain is busy inventing problems for me to worry about when I'm not idle.

[@evamkaushik5392]

Sounds like that's who you are then. A problem raiser.

[@TaLeng2023]

@@evamkaushik5392 Problem solver ❌ Problem raiser ✔️ 🤣

[@TurinBeats]

@@evamkaushik5392 Not a problem solver?

[@JesusPlsSaveMe]

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. HEY THERE 🤗 JESUS IS CALLING YOU TODAY. Turn away from your sins, confess, forsake them and live the victorious life. God bless. Revelation 22:12-14 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

[@spaceguy20_12]

@@JesusPlsSaveMethis comment has nothing to do with religion…?

[@GrimJerr]

My Brain apparently keeps working on problems while I am doing something else, because the answer to a question or Idea I was thinking of will occur to me in the middle of another task.

[@ghettrsc8764]

Maybe multiple networks are active in parallel but independently

[@erwinzer0]

So who or what is that thing solving our problem? Make me question a lot about free will

[@CitrianSnailBY]

Конечно!! 😂

[@CitrianSnailBY]

​@@erwinzer0If it's the brain, it's the self.

[@immanny85]

Absolutely. I even get that after waking from a sleep

[@encoderencoder1031]

Truly that is the reason why brilliant ideas ignite in your brain in a Bathroom, Bed, Toilet......

[@yeetboi268]

So, how many of these 'brilliant ideas' have actually improved your life?

[@farhanrejwan]

@@yeetboi268 that is, "if" you've even implemented them at all 😂

[@zekaay]

in a nutshell: more time alone and letting your mind "not doing anything" encourages self-reflection. People who spend more time alone know themselves better maybe?

[@Batmans_Pet_Goldfish]

They have a higher chance of knowing themselves better. Though I've been doing mostly that for the last 6 years and I still don't know. 🤷‍♂️

[@productreviews524]

Diet has a profound impact on cognitive function. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins are known to support brain health. Minimizing sugar intake is also crucial, as excessive glucose can affect brain areas related to memory. Instead, focus on whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats that nourish the brain and help maintain cognitive sharpness.

[@mrbengg]

Yo imma go default mode

[@Julzchomovitch00]

Ultra instinct

[@benhc99]

Brb going default mode

[@wildrabbt]

😂😂😂😂

[@TheRguru1]

Default dance

[@SubparFiddle]

This is what yoga is, like when you really get down to the old origins of it. Yoga is the cessation of the incessant, fearful, chatterly mind

[@1980rlquinn]

Important question not even mentioned in this (albeit, brief) essay on the topic: What are the consequences of not allowing the brain to enter this state? I can see this being a *very* important research question in light of our "terminally online" culture.

[@MichaelC-to7uz]

Yes, the brain is always active, even when you're not doing anything in particular: Involuntary activities The brain is responsible for involuntary activities like breathing, blinking, and regulating your heartbeat. Spontaneous activity The brain is always producing activity, even when it's not being stimulated. This activity is called "resting state" in EEG. Default mode network When you're not doing much, a collection of brain areas called the default mode network activates. Brain activity and perception The brain's ongoing activity is shaped by past experiences and influences how you perceive the world and act. The brain's tendency to be more impacted by negative events than positive ones is known as the negativity effect. The brain registers, focuses on, stores, and recalls negative events more easily than positive ones.

[@efp7247]

Yes exactly. I think that's the reason why kids (especially the young ones) who have had electronics and tablets that give them constant stimulus have a really hard time doing nothing, cause they're so used to having constant stimulus

[@kevinwhite6176]

I've made enormous strides in dealing with my anxiety since I learned about this a couple of years ago. I saw something quoting Ethan Kross from University of Michigan talking about how third-person self-talk would suppress the default mode network in people. I started doing it when I would catch myself having these "I'm going to make up a story about how something will happen in the future that isn't pleasant" and suddenly, as soon as I'd tell myself in the third person that I was doing it, it was like someone hit the pause button on something in my brain. That eventually led me to ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), which is based around "relational frame theory", however I think it dovetails into this whole DMN thing. The DMN is where those negative thoughts are 'coming from' and getting circulated back into when you get stuck in anxiety.

[@barryk7227]

If you happen to have a link to the Ethan Kross material I’d be interested!

[@jind0sh]

Hey I had a similar experience. I also have social anxiety. And one of my strategies when in a social situation is to clearly picture how the interlocutor would see me, my micro expressions, etc, and then sort of emulate how I usually see how a "normal", socially fluent person would act. Picturing myself from a third person pov usually helps take me off my self-conscious tendencies and, like you described, felt like someone hit the pause button on something. Somehow felt lighter on my feet, didn't need to focus too much inwards on how I should act, but on the other person, and this makes everything more instinctual (system 2?). Sort of when watching this video or writing this comment in a cafe, I can feel something definitely paused my everlasting "that person definitely thinks I'm weird, I need to adjust my frozen bitch face" inner voice. So I think I'm starting to get it when Jordan Peterson (I know) said "anxiety is all about where you direct your attention. There is narcissism in anxiety: all you see is yourself. Look outwards, to the dragon's eyes, observe, listen, and you will have something to talk about." I'm wondering whether this is why humans felt the need for religions in a non-engineered, natural way. As an atheist, picturing an all seeing father watching and judging your every move definitely has an effect on one's behavior. Perhaps it plays on these networks on the brain somehow? Because being in a well functioning community like a church (ekklesia: group, congregation, church) needs everyone's self reflection (prayers), participation, clear communication, cooperation; the correct amount of ratio (?) of these two networks? To which, finding the optimal solution to any multivariable ratio is hard enough but the brain is a different beast, it's like everything affects everything. Maybe why these "holy" books are these complicated, self-referencing, long winded collection of narratives (to establish the validity "God"/the "right" structure in oneself) written in hundreds of years by numerous people. I feel like it's unintentionally our earliest pilot massive project tackling this exact behavioral regulation problem. Maybe some people believing these narratives as "truer than true" has to do with how these networks are affected by the narratives. I mean in the bible John said "Jesus is the Word". I looked it up, some say John meant that "Jesus is the physical manifestation of God the Father, just as a spoken word is the physical manifestation of our inner thoughts". But more believe that this establishes the point of faith (Christian at least), which is to believe in the words and act accordingly, to do the "right" thing to others in self-reflection. *I might have digressed, but it feels intuitive because these topics always show up in the same breath. There are people who vehemently believe religions can cure depression, anxiety, and so forth.* Again, not promoting any religion, just making connections that I think is interesting here as an atheist.

[@Kuk0san]

Congratulations! You have discovered Metacognition. Thinking about the thinking.

[@Honey_the_star]

@@jind0sh I love the perspective that you went into. The reason I opened up to religion was because I decided to build a personal relationship with God. So, the ‘word’ you’re referring to is the third person voice that is kind, joyful, loving, blessing and true, which, are the characteristics of God. I mean this is knowledge I got from the book of John, when Jesus was showing people the way.

[@scrumptious9673]

❤

[@daverei1211]

Let’s just hope that infinite scrolling and technology based stimulation doesn’t diminish the default mode network.

[@JesusPlsSaveMe]

To everyone in this chat, Jesus is calling you today. Come to him, repent from your sins, bear his cross and live the victorious life

[@catalindeluxus8545]

As a Christian, you people make me sick. You bring Jesus out of context, He never asked for that. You shoo people awya form His teachings. Leave

[@mukeshambani-w5x]

It will be bcz u aren't reflecting or recalling or lose self awareness

[@isaacm4159]

Depends on if you're actively paying attention or just passively scrolling

[@j.d.4697]

You got a window. Use it!

[@thepoppersshow]

The artistic technique of “sit infeont of the page doing nothing” makes so much more sense now. Youre waiting for the default mode network to activate

[@MaPo-d6k]

You can entitirely change what the default mode is though

[@MaPo-d6k]

Whatever behavior/ brainwave pattern is most crystalline through time / space across a set of

[@RamanBhagat-up9vj]

​@@MaPo-d6kcan you please explain this a bit?

[@KopyErr]

Reallll

[@SpaceTimeTurtle]

Whenever I'm daydreaming (which is a lot), my mind always "shoots out" weird ideas, funny thoughts, or correlations. I've long suspected that daydreaming is akin to a less impressive superpower. If the mind never wanders, and thus is not allowed to connect disparate dots, I would be an automaton. Psycho-naughts for the win! :):)

[@JesusPlsSaveMe]

Jesus loves you. Repent and turn away from your sins today 🤗

[@Eidarm]

​@@JesusPlsSaveMe ill never understand why it is not a sin to force your religion down someone's throat

[@Didi_Meow_Records]

​@@JesusPlsSaveMeJesus already died for our sins. Game on.

[@JesusPlsSaveMe]

​@@Didi_Meow_Records Romans 6:1-7 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Colossians 3. 1. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2. Set your affection on the things which are above and not on things which are on the earth. 3. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4. When Christ, which is our life shall appear, so shall ye also appear with him in Glory. ******** Jesus is calling you today. Come to him, repent from your sins, bear his cross and live the victorious life ********

[@BoxBoy_99]

​@@JesusPlsSaveMe yo shut the flip up :) Before he comes back and flips your table over, specifically. Jesus was a neurodivergent, wake up sheep.

[@ncedwards1234]

Meta-awareness has so many layers, glad to see this sparking people's interest in peeling back one layer further.

[@chrisbovington9607]

You can't seriously expect me to believe that anyone thought brains stopped doing everything when you rest. At absolute minimum they will still be passively assessing environmental stimuli, and "letting your mind wander" is it's own clue.

[@brodriguez11000]

Plus death is defined as brain having no waves.

[@kishfoo]

I taught myself to pose a difficult question to myself before I sleep. When I wake, I usually have a pretty good understanding of all the variables involved in solving the question, or sometimes the answer is already formulated by the subconsious. The subconscious digs through any relative information saved in the mind and attaches relevancy, and creates a neurosynaptic mini database for your conscious mind to peruse upon waking. The conscious mind is bound by time, and can only think using a single thread in sequence while the subconscious is more or less quantum.

[@Batmans_Pet_Goldfish]

I've tried that but I always end up thinking too in depth about it to fall asleep.

[@kishfoo]

@Batmans_Pet_Goldfish Oh, yeah, I get that, too. I just jot it down in my e-journal as the thing to concentrate on, then switch modes. Read something, Alan Moore's Jersulaem, at the moment, then doom-scroll YT until I get tired and turn on a gamer, usually Northern Lion or Voyix. I have my phone set to dimmest and orange to cut blue light. I also use a stand so I can fall asleep just listening to random stuff. You know, like sleeping with the telly on. My brain slowly got used to this process and knows what it's supposed to cook on the back burner, so to speak.

[@ripefruitcreative]

This is my meditation technique. I sort of sit at launching point, all the question, then meditate, and usually get clarity from there. I miss meditating everyday. Even that act is the practice of paying attention to consciousness. If you’ve tried, you know there is no stilling the mind.

[@kishfoo]

@ripefruitcreative Yeah, there is. For me, it's surfing. I love going out as far as I can on my paddle board on a calm day. The vast open sea sooths my soul and heals me.

[@jeromesri8627]

Whenever I’m in the shower I come up with interesting questions and things to search for when I get out. When I come out the shower I often times forget to search it and it just completely slips from my mind!

[@dann_y5319]

Default Mode Network is involved in introspection. Executive Control Network is involved in outward concentration. Saliance network switches between the two. Also, creativity or even a "flow" state arises in the optimal condition where these large-scale neural networks can fluidly communicate, activating and reactivating, enabling you to think and gain insight about a certain task, like when mind-wandering or even after focusing on work in a more restful, imaginative state

[@timetraveller2818]

cool insight makes me want to learn more about brain networks

[@brianquigley1940]

Basic neuroscience covered in any textbook covering executive functions.

[@dann_y5319]

@@brianquigley1940 👍

[@67haudi]

This is very interesting stuff and touches on where the self comes from. Perhaps sometime in the future this research may provide answers to how consciousness is produced. Very cool. Thanks for the post!

[@eeveelution8035]

The reason consciousness seems so elusive is that any attempt at explaining it within materialist metaphysics must be either insufficient in explaining how brain activity connects to qualitative experience ('explanatory gap') and/or must silently presuppose consciousness to prove itself*. Also people often mistake consciousness for self-aware behaviour, but consciousness can exist without having a sense of self, the detached self is just a thought. * To demonstrate - let us first assume that conscious experience is 'produced' by arrangements of or interactions between unconscious matter. This is the view that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon. The flaw here is a misunderstanding of emergence. All emergent phenomena require a field of *potential* to *emerge onto*. Notice that these fields of potential exist only within mind, and thus all emergent phenomena are made of thought/feeling. A picture can not emerge from pixels separate from the thought that groups those pixels together. A traffic jam similarly is a mental fabrication, all statements you can make about it - such as how long it exists for - are only ever statements about the thought which groups the cars together. So if we claim consciousness to be emergent, we must necessarily claim that consciousness only exists as a thought/mental fabrication, which leads to cyclical reasoning as we need consciousness to explain consciousness. 21st century conscious research is showing us the limitations of materialism. Finding that consciousness is not produced, but maybe tuned into like a radio signal or filtered like a beam of light, would be much more groundbreaking than finding how it is produced. A metaphysical framework more capable of investigating consciousness moving forward is Analytical Idealism.

[@NadimShaikh-qv7zj]

Have researchers even proved that the self actually exists? Or is it just one of those metaphysical constructs that scientists take for granted?

[@abhilasha4334]

Its so cool that our brain has a default mode

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

Now to watercool and overclock it 😂

[@abhilasha4334]

@@kaushalsuvarna5156 haha😅

[@stellarwind1946]

Default mode is a little misleading. There’s still a lot going on in the brain during a ‘resting state’.

[@brianquigley1940]

Anthromorphic thinking... the "default mode" lies in the basal ganglia, ie. lizard brain. You can dope up the mammalian cortex, but the lizard brain still has a mighty powerful survival instinct running.

[@eduardoaraujo8174]

I was constantly on daydreaming mode while I was a kid. When I was on the car my mind was always wandering and loved the ideas that would come out of it. Also I saw things a lot clearer and everything was easier to learn. In my teenage years I tried drugs for the first time and immediately you could tell I was very susceptible to psychosis. One time, very early in my drug carreer (less than 10 joints I smoked in total), I started getting into actual psychosis. I stopped drugs immediately, but I felt like I was always on the edge of having an full strength episode without actually having it. My dmn became scrambles and pretty painfull to experience mentally. I am being treated for that for some years now and while I did not have major episodes I still battle with minor ones constantly. I feel like I am not a quick learner anymore and my dmn is not the same as before. A bit more foggy and devoid of mind wandering experiences . I miss the sharpness of my years before this event although overall I am doing pretty well.

[@triton62674]

Same happened to me regarding weed probably laced with spice, had an adverse reaction and haven't been as sharp since.

[@devon9075]

That's just from getting old. Drug use or no drug use wouldn't change that

[@jeroenstrompf5064]

Thanks for sharing that!

[@keelan270]

I relate to this a lot

[@amandamate9117]

you just getting old. and maybe you had a mini stroke

[@simontemplar404]

Rarely do I see something that I have not heard before these days. This is new to me. Thanks.

[@raftemmerman765]

Sorry Einstein 🥺

[@michaelkun1594]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@raftemmerman765u seem insecure lol

[@milkyshakes]

bro this is literally cognitive function theory. Episodic memories= Sensing. Prospective memories=intuition, semantic memory= sensing/feeling, mind wandering= nx/sx. ect

[@klawiehr]

I was hoping you’d go into psilocybin’s effect on neuroplasticity here :) amazing that the idea of the default mode network is so new

[@LuisAldamiz]

My personal take, as I'm experiencing this "default mode" more and more these days (no drugs involved, rather an "om" phase I'm having), is that the brain is "listening" to a large extent but also "quietly processing" (without any rush nor particular priority).

[@TheSummoner]

This sounds like a pretty nice mind state, but I'm not quite there yet

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@TheSummoner - Yes it's nice but just months ago I was in a completely different mindset, getting in many quarrels, and even weeks ago I went through a serious emotional crisis when my boss unfairly scolded me badly. So it's probably just these last weeks. Hope I can stay there.

[@TheSummoner]

@@LuisAldamizI wish you the best in that regard!

[@devilsposterboy]

Your default mode network is always on without the need for drugs or meditation. Psychedelics and meditation actually shutdown the DMN not boost it up

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@devilsposterboy - I don't think they do. Meditation and default seem to be very similar if not the same thing. Drugs are another story altogether because they "force" your brain to altered and possibly chaotic forms (which may be very interesting at times but not really meditation, something else). In fact meditating on yews under the sun was part of the process of achieving "default".

[@Batmans_Pet_Goldfish]

If i say im thinking about nothing, i mean that it's something so ridiculous or wildly random that people would more readily believe the answer "nothing."

[@efp7247]

Completely agree, I don't know why people online say that men can "think about nothing" I'm a dude and it's just cause we don't want to explain to you what we're actually thinking

[@PueMonTen]

The test subjects weren't doing "nothing", they were resting. Resting is doing something. I regularly dive into sensory deprivation so I have the right to this opinion. The brain does not want to be denied sensation so in the absence of that, it will create its own. In doing so, the brain is effectively doing gymnastics. You may be laying down with your eyes closed just simply breathing but a lot of energy is still being used. You can settle brain down and eventually you can reach "nothing" but that is a field apart from this study. I just felt that this was a very important distinction to make

[@Newgodlove]

👍

[@Kid420]

ehh.. disagree honestly, you really can’t ever be doing “nothing”.

[@Vysair]

no such thing as absence of activity. Everything is always in an active or passive state unless you are dead

[@FrederiqueBertin]

We become intelligent into a relax state when we stop spinning into outside stimulus that keeps us running like without orientation .

[@OneMor3Win]

I’ve never for a single second of my life been void of half a dozen simultaneous thoughts whilst conscious unless I’m a second or two from falling asleep, which then again- could just be me forgetting what happened. Not sure why anyone believes this nonsense.

[@discoteque7768]

Even more fascinating is that as early as 2500 B.C., the Buddha discovered that the mind creates a thought that masquerades as the self (the ego) and is the root cause of human suffering. In the 20th century, the Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti explained to the world that the Default Mode Network (DMN) consists of past memories and future projections, as well as the sense of oneself in relation to ideas, people, situations, and so on. He transcended the ego and claimed that anyone who observes and deeply understands these mental processes will be liberated from the ego, and thus from all suffering.

[@brianquigley1940]

Define "nothing". As I understand it, there's two basic types of meditation used to focus your mind. 1. busy meditation, i.e. mantras used to focus the mind. 2. stilness meditation, i.e. shutting off all thought. Form 1 is often used to get to Form 2, e.g. counting breaths. Having practised both, I can tell you that stilness meditation is virtually impossible. Usually, I can minimize the stray thoughts floating around, but it is a very, very rare moment that I find myself floating in that odd state of "no thoughts". And by "no thoughts" I mean no distress due to a physical pain in my body, no verbalizations, no static or moving images, no memories replaying, just a state of awareness of body and nothing else. This state of mind is so infrequent and so "alien" that I immediately pop out of this state of mind. If I'm lucky I can hold that state of mind for some seconds, maybe a minute. Reason? Millions of years of evolutionary survival that created the lizard brain (basal ganglia) and the surrounding mammalian surrounding cortex trained us to always be on the alert and/or preparing for the next crisis.

[@Shockysho]

You are lucky, I can easily remain in that state of ZERO thought, with only a sort of passive awareness of subconscious (beyond my conscious and intentional control) actions like biting my cheek. My struggle is being alert and aware of my external world

[@brianquigley1940]

@Shockysho The "perception" that there is a difference between "external" and "internal" is an illusion. Consciousness and awareness are epiphenomena of our brain.

[@newenglandgreenman]

I do something apparently similar to Form 2, but in fact almost the opposite. I agree that repressing thought doesn't work well. What does work for me is embracing presence and awareness. Don't repress thought. Embrace awareness. Let the sounds and other phenomena around you happen. Focus on your awareness of them. Focus on awareness itself. Instead of rejecting thought, embrace awareness. If an occasional thought pops up, embrace your awareness of that thought. That returns the focus to awareness.

[@brianquigley1940]

@newenglandgreenman Nice. Thanks for the advice. Actually, it's not far off what I already do. Just be aware of it, the thought, or emotion, or physical pain. Just let it be. Just be aware of it. If it's a pain, it fades away. If it's a thought, it dissipates. Usually(!) Being aware of the awareness seems "contradictory", but I get what you mean (I think!).

[@MrTomas7777]

This doesn't seem like news though... When I'm doing nothing my mind always wanders to some thought. It's actually harder to not think about anything.

[@Mr3921151]

From a mindfulness perspective, the default mode network can be pernicious...it causes rumination and constant unconscious mind wandering. Mindfulness...focuses us on the present and pulls us away from this constant rumination...which seems to be the root of suffering

[@kushalramakanth7922]

Yup, when your thoughts wander and you bring it back to focus, your pre frontal cortex is involved and doing that helps in the betterment of impulse control!

[@anjafrohlich1170]

Your mindfu-bs always there to ruin natural processes, I see

[@danielle78730]

marvelous and well-written/produced video! now i have a bunch of shiz to research regarding ASD and DMN…

[@productreviews524]

Chronic stress can raise cortisol levels, impairing cognitive function over time. Techniques like meditation, deep breathing, and even brief moments of relaxation can counteract the impact of stress on the brain. Limiting exposure to negative news and maintaining a supportive social circle also help reduce stress, protecting mental clarity and emotional resilience. Mental exercises, such as puzzles, learning new languages, and exploring new activities, help stimulate the brain, supporting long-term cognitive health. Switching up daily routines, like using your non-dominant hand for tasks, can activate different brain regions, enhancing cognitive flexibility and problem-solving skills. This kind of mental stimulation builds resilience against cognitive decline by keeping the brain actively engaged.

[@horsepowermultimedia]

My brain be keeping itself in performance mode 24/7

[@TelaGamer]

Mine is in battery-saving mode 24/7

[@derBene]

Funny: I remember 20 years ago my step dad from Lebanon saying that that I am too distracted and that I should do nothing from time to time. - I also remember from some days ago reading that leisure/Muße had a better status in older times. People didn't know about the Default Mode Network but they suspected that something good must be happening when you do nothing from time to time.

[@Newgodlove]

THIS IS THE ANSWER I HAVE BEEN WAITING AND YEARNING FOR! THANKS SCIENCE! Im just really excited because Ive been taking breaks while doing some intense brain creative work. And breaks help but the science? How. So god bless 🎉

[@Vysair]

I think it's doing a routine malware scan and some other miscellaneous background task like telemetry collection 😂😂

[@Joseph843]

It felt like this video was constantly repeating the same information.

[@HannahFields444]

I wish I could participate in some kind of brain study. I've had so many experiences completely straight and sober that sound like psilocybin or lsd trips, but I've never tried anything like that. For example, understanding that there is no time and space. I've watched it flatten and everything far from me was also near, and can do that at will now. I've had time stretch out and speed up, and can still experience reality in that way when I focus on it. It feels more real than the way we all walk around most of the time. I've watched materials and objects lose solidity, morph and change, and solid objects flow like liquids. I've seen solid things for the energy they're made of. Like knowing a cup is energy I am perceiving as a cup, and when I grab it with my hand, my hand is just energy I perceive and focus as my hand, and none of it matters because none of it is really that. It's fascinating and fun to me, but I understand so little about it. It's not something I go around telling people lol. I'm not schizophrenic or delusional, but I'd sure love to see what parts of my brain are lighting up to process stuff in this way while it's happening. I'd love to hear any (respectful) comments. 😄

[@yuhansungscoffee]

Fine video, except for the totally unnecessary clips of random experts saying irrelevant quips for rhetorical effect. “Wait what’s that?” “Maybe it’s not just resting.”

[@smriti9305]

What’s up ? Nothing Good, keep at it bro

[@chrisalex001]

Truly having a restful mind means no thought at all, none. That is what truly resets your mind. Most people's sense of self is useless. Who you really are is not your sense of self. You don't need a sense of self to be you. A sense of self is what other people have given you based on how they categorize your personality tendencies. In reality, you are much more, more profound and more intimately you.

[@Dr_Larken]

The human body especially the brain is amazing! Not too long ago, I came across a experiment/ study of 2 groups “Control-C & Normal- N” where both groups did the same thing in seven days however the control group was blindfolded “ Don’t remember exactly how, but they were blinded During the experiment” Doing the same basic “everyday” task + more Extensive task “learning braille etc”! Obviously, I’m summing this up but the findings were At First the C Struggled, adjusting to not being able to see. After that almost like unlocking a new sense. The brain no longer had to process visual information, freeing up brain “processing” power! Comparing both groups learning braille, the C learned it relatively quicker than the N group. Along with some other stuff! However, on the last day when the C group regained access to their eyes. Almost immediately the majority of what they learned of braille, faded away. Kind of like the brain needed that space back! I look at the human body as an engineering masterpiece, a machine! The brain is the computer running that machine! The brain has a hard drive “long term memory”, RAM “short term memory” it’s consistently processing a ton of information from all senses! Filtering Information received giving a value to it “relevant, irrelevant, important, Possibly important, garbage etc” kind of like an algorithm “or multiple algo’s” always adjusting learning from new Information! Requiring energy “bioelectric” if its low on power there are issues and if it completely looses power, the HDD & RAM may be corrupted or “almost” completely wiped! From every few days to over a decade “if I remember correctly” your body gets a complete hardware update “growing & replacing new skin, hair, muscle, bone” whilst the brain is constantly making new connections storing data, overwriting older data! Again this is a massively oversimplification, but what logical person wouldn’t think that the body is amazing! Understanding a tiny bit of how one of the almost perfectly engineered biomechines functionality, w/ a brain “computer” to to control & maintain it. Plus its own immune system “antivirus” sleep mode, even when the body or part/ parts of z body is lacking, starved it shuts down parts to preserve the vital, most crucial parts. If it’s overwhelmed with extreme pain causing the person to pass out! It even can over heat! Depending on the environment, habitat, lifestyle, parents genetics and a sh¡t avoirdupois of other variables. Evolving to gain or loose something “up or downgrade” ie the “model” consistently in the sun, hot climates their “shell, case” skin pigmentation will adjust “evolve” to a darker tone better suiting the brutal pounding of that radioactive lamp in our solar system! Millions of years in humanities past, when sky islands existed out of reach. Humans ancestors evolved to have wings “along w/Other things such as 6ft+ long tails” along with more complex brains. Allowing us to dominate those sky Islands, Molding nature to our will forcing said islands back to the earth. Creating great, fisher and cracks upon the massive land surfaces. With a side effect breaking that large single land mass into multiple pieces, slowly separating from each other! Over Millennia Some of that land sunk below the waves, others rose above. So the human body is a advanced being controlled by advanced computer, Perhaps capable of wireless connections “Bluetooth and or Wi-Fi” that been forgotten or gradually used less & less, eventually no longer used leading to have been forgotten. Annndddd if that’s the case then Information would have been transferred the same way between people and something like the cloud “universal consciousness” storing data on a level FB, Goog’s etc would be envious of. Storing each and every experience, thought, emotion, action, Interpretation, outlook, knowledge along with that individual’s unique understanding or lack their of. When the hardware eventually completely fails or gets fatal damaged beyond repair. That energy “consciousness” is transferred in some for or another back to the cloud, absorbed into a pool mixed with all of those billions of consciousness’s that completely the same process and billions that inevitably will! Only for that pool/ cloud to upload a relatively identical average “scoop” of all of that mixed cocktail of consciousness to another human fetus, auto downloading upon reaching a point of assembly when that individual brain goes online. As if it had a BIOS, once the process of all the cells reaching a point of progress during the assembly, enough wiring ran over the frame & through the internals connecting everything to turn on the power, running the necessary parts “organs, blood flow etc” establishing a connection to the brain thus allowing automated control whilst the rest continues to be built. Receiving a lot from its host “z Mum” until reaching a point its able to be removed from the factory. Hopefully without any defects, issues etc. as once it leaves z factory, that’s it! Even though the process isn’t complete, It continues on outside said baby factory. As adjustments are made, parts grown expand with time including z brain. Given it only has Essentially factory settings however, one could argue when z baby’s downloaded Consciousness APK…. Хорошо, я был бы полностью шокирован, если бы вы прочитали все это! За это я приветствую тебя! Прошу прощения за то, что увлекся в конце! Тем не менее, кому не нравится хорошая пряная история!

[@casev799]

I want to say I understand this on some deeper level, but after a few of the comparisons between humanity and machines you’ve lost me…

[@yinyang2385]

You were doing well until you dived into fantasy and started talking about humans evolving wings and shared conciousness.

[@HannibalPim]

I've always used a similar attitude towards my subconscious: if there's a problem that needs more consideration, I've always put it away, so my subconscious may solve it while I'm doing other things =) Longest period of which I was aware was about 8 months, during which I prepared for writing my masters thesis.

[@studio107bgallery4]

My life was so chaotic and full of trauma, that I’m continually in default mode now…. I’m trying to get my neurons back on track to be a productive human in society.

[@Didi_Meow_Records]

I wish mine would *slow down* so *i* could be a productive human in society. Brains are weird.

[@utsavkc3946]

Is the default mode also active when we are asleep or does this only occur when awake?

[@liliya_aseeva]

I used to have a rich imagination. However I suppose that the DMN in my case is not working properly at all. All it does is to reanalyze events which already happened and worry about mundane life questions. I have basically nothing to dream of and this sucks. I can't understand, what do people do in their life? What they can do? For what? At one time metaphysics slightly helped me to imagine that there is something 'outta there' which is waiting for us. But now I'm not so sure and it doesn't comfort me. I simply see everything as meaningless, and I understand that this is a problem with me.

[@DanDukeBox]

Less screen (!), more reading paper books and time in nature i found helps a LOT.

[@rtgpdotxyz]

@@DanDukeBox @DanDukeBox Yes, and put your feet in the sand/on the ground/sea/water to connect to earth

[@ellevasc]

it sounds like you might be depressed. try talking to a mental health professional

[@selbie]

So it sounds like the DMN is a figurative "bridge" or interface between our primal input processing centres (ie. vital sensory inputs for survival) and the conscious ideation levels of our brain. "Doing Nothing" is just a social construct of ideas between people. If we truly "did nothing" we would stop existing because all of our atoms would need to "do nothing" as well :P Thus our DMN continues acting full-time as the distributor between the vital inputs and would explain why psilocybin generates that detached sensory experience. It could also explain our Intuitions. When the DMN interface harmonises our conscious time/ideation/memory centres and unconscious vital sensory functions, we experience a "flow" or "calling" as though being guided by an invisible hand. What some might think of as a spiritual or enlightening experience may simply be a result of this amazing organ COMPUTING THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY. If for example ADHD is our mind attempting to "boost" our lack of dopamine production via the salience network, then it would explain how performing meditation and exercise would regularly lower this network interruption and allow the DMN to operate more fully for longer periods. I'd be interested if the ADHD tendency to slip into hyperfocus could be at moments when the salience network is 'satisfied' and the DMN facilitates it fully? and then at other times we are in a daydreaming mind fog because other networks are too active and the constant switching between DMN and salient throws us around? Hence why we have no control over moments of hyperfocus and how the disorder can undermine self esteem without external support frameworks.

[@tafsirnahian669]

Please make videos on noble prize in chemistry, physics.

[@ScottJPowers]

of course there's some activity when you're letting your mind wander. do you think your thoughts and imaginations come out of nowhere and you're brain is only active when you're "thinking" about something in particular? The firing of neurons are responsible for every thought in your head and is what produces you, the person in that head. Besides, you can never not think of anything. no matter what you're doing, there are always thoughts and images dancing in your head.

[@Ikari-5an]

The brain never ever stops. Only when dead. Thing is... When idle it does things to improve it's capabilities later on. Sleeping also is a maintenance cycle. So while we sleep the brain does maintenance. Idle operations are probably maintenance related as well. Also... We often come up with solutions to problems after resting this means that the brain was solving the problem without the need to make us fully conscious about it.

[@szaltisb2107]

0:40 hans burger

[@edf859fa]

My brain runs both modes at the same time, all the time. ADHD 💪 HELL YEAH

[@F00Lsmack]

I'm pretty sure that ADHD is basically the inability to switch between the default mode network and whatever the other more active mode network is, at will.

[@devilsposterboy]

@@F00Lsmackit actually is. Between the default mode network and the task positive network. The DMN is overactive and doesn’t know how to switch off when the TPN is needed

[@brianquigley1940]

Squirrel!

[@TelaGamer]

​@@devilsposterboyWhat is TPN?

[@devilsposterboy]

@@TelaGamer task positive network

[@regentmad1037]

i'm adhd buddy. my brain is never doing "nothing". even when it looks like i am.

[@IusedtohaveausernameIliked]

We need to explore the idea of "doing nothing" more. "Doing nothing" really means doing nothing to make rich people slightly richer. Otherwise we're always doing something. We need to fight back against the idea that "doing nothing" is lazy or unhealthy, regardless of what our brains are actually doing when we're not actively using them.

[@sanchitabanerjee9236]

Thankyou so much this is in our Vedas as well ❤🎉

[@scentsoftravelmeditation]

The default mode is also activated during meditation and prayer It’s the brain’s in-built system for rebooting and developments :)

[@Warg666]

That is the problem with my Brain, it never shuts down to Default Mode, it's always thinking!~

[@gregc8831]

When my brain is in idle I find it easier to recall long term memory. Edit: I wrote that before I learned that's how it works in this video.

[@chrisleblanc581]

Something to keep in mind when watching neuroscience videos. Half of of the papers publishes in the field cannot be replicated by an independent lab. Those that can usually show much less robust results than originally reported. We have no theory of mind, and very little understanding of the nature of what we are studying. As was the case with freuds psychoanalytic theory, it’s easy to convince yourself you understand what you are studying because you have all these jargon terms you can stick together in ways that just confirm your own biases. We love fooling ourselves that we understand, but this field not only has never had the equivalent of an Einstein, it has not even had its equivalent of a newton come along. So much of what we are convinced we understand just turns out to be completely wrong. One example is the role of oxytocin in pair bind formation in voles. This was considered the best example of a completely worked out behavior. It’s in every textbook on behavior. It has been taught for decades. It’s wrong. Another example is the role of the primary motor cortex. We thought we understood it’s function for decades only to have recent work show it does much more than its classic function. Dill close with a final observation. This is a field where it’s become common for those working it in to note even understand the statistics they use to anymore data, or the way the tools they use collect data actually work. One neuroimaging expert became so frustrated with how data was being collected that he set an mri to settings standard in todays publications. The then proceeded to record phantom data indicating brain activity in a DEAD FISH. That is how common it is to delude yourself you truly grasp the nature of the organ you are studying. But the truth is that we absolutely do not. And that is why you can publish payers in the field on the brain’s quantum connection to the fabric of the universe- popoycock science at its bets. I love my field. But everyone working in it should be a professional skeptic and be very dubious of anyone who “knows” how thinking works. If we did, we would have sentient computers now wouldn’t we? We don’t.

[@dimlylitcorners]

I often say that my brain is working on something it's not (yet) telling me…

[@martinakotia]

I thank God finding this content. And Amen

[@purdysanchez]

In the future, Neuralink will use the brain's resting mode to mine Bitcoin.

[@danthesquirrel]

And the waking mode to access ad supported cell phone functionality, and the default mode that tells us who we are is a moving target based on Elon's whims. Glitchy upgrades, malware and bloatware (requiring hardware upgrades to regain brain function) become the new normal. Everyone who gets brain chipped (and has received the first software upgrade) will wonder how they ever lived without it.

[@ionic7777]

I wonder how ADHD might affect the default mode…

[@liam78587]

"It sounds like you're interested in how ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) might impact the default mode network (DMN) in the brain. The DMN is a network of interacting brain regions that is active when a person is at rest and not focused on the outside world, like when daydreaming or thinking about the past or future. In individuals with ADHD, research suggests that the DMN behaves differently compared to those without ADHD. Here are some key points: Impaired Switching: In people without ADHD, the brain switches efficiently between the DMN and other networks, such as the task-positive network (TPN), which is active during focused, goal-oriented tasks. In ADHD, this switching is often less efficient. This can lead to difficulties in sustaining attention on tasks, as the DMN might remain more active even when focus is needed. Overactivity of DMN: Some studies suggest that the DMN may be more active in individuals with ADHD, even when they are trying to focus on tasks. This overactivity might contribute to the distractibility and mind-wandering often seen in ADHD. Functional Connectivity: The connections between different regions within the DMN might be altered in ADHD. This could affect how different parts of the brain communicate during rest and how the brain transitions between different states of activity. Developmental Differences: The DMN typically undergoes significant changes during development, and these changes might be different in individuals with ADHD. This could contribute to the persistence of ADHD symptoms as a person grows older. Overall, these differences in the DMN could help explain some of the core symptoms of ADHD, such as inattention, distractibility, and difficulties with executive function. The relationship between the DMN and ADHD is an active area of research, with ongoing studies aiming to better understand these neural dynamics." chatgpt

[@LilYupper]

@@liam78587bro pulled up chat gpt 💀

[@dead-claudia]

can't find much (yet) but it seems from a quick search that the default mode network doesn't quiet down in people with adhd actively doing tasks like it does for most people

[@aramoana01]

This is really interesting. I had a feeling that something like this existed

[@DAG_42]

I've known people like this CEO. Arrogant and just smart enough to be dangerous.

[@tomazflegar]

We don't fully understand, i think and such statements are leading publics to think they are on something, but they are just theorizing. To know the feeling of self is to be the self

[@eigentlichtoll02]

Is it possible to hear/listen to each scientist's full interview somewhere?

[@CitizenSlide]

And what happens when your DMN is permanently disrupted due to a brain injury? And you lose all sense of self, you lose the ability to form new (or recall old) episodic memories and connectivity between your major brain regions no longer allows for the kind of mediation essential to a working theory of mind. That’s what happened to me, and despite over a decade of brain scans, dementia tests and studies by eminent UK neuroscientists I am still a long way from recovered.

[@emmanuelweinman9673]

My brain makes other peoples’ brains very confused 😂 My brain is mostly space, because I am spirited, so it’s hard to find “me”. Fully experiencing the same spirit of life all around and within all of us is absolutely mind blowing ❤️🙏🏼

[@horizn9982]

Incredible content! 👏👏👏

[@lunapam2447]

there was this time that I solved a problem after sleeping. Like when I woke up the solution suddenly came to me and was so obvious.

[@KopyErr]

We need to use the subconscious and stuff more like this :0 I saw a video talking about how powerful the subconscious is It said smth like for example you can say out loud "I want to wake up at 8am" or smth and if you want/mean it then your body will just wake you up I tried to practice it myself, I said out loud "I want to wake up at 11am" I was worried that I would be too tired to even want to wake up if I did wake up at 11am though, but didn't rlly pay that much attention to the thought Then that morning my body did smth weird, it woke me up from like 8am every hour untill 11am 💀 Maybe they were trying to make it easier for me to wake up :o But anyways I love that we can use our subconscious, it's a superpower A second brain Not talked about enough I should probably research and test it, it's absolutely phenomenal

[@lunapam2447]

@@KopyErr That wake up thing is real. I tried that. after sunmer, first day of college, I had to wake up early. So I set my mind to wake up 8 AM, I was also afraid to be late. So what happend was I woke up at 7:30 much more earlier than the alarm. This was unusual because I usually wake up 10:00 Am in the summer hahaha. it was weird because I did not feel sleepy or anything, My eyes just opened and I woke up exactly before 8 AM, this was before the alarm.

[@JF098]

Sad that psilocybin is still illegal in most of the US

[@treefarm3288]

That was terrifically interesting! Thanks!

[@e8root]

Voices told me that these regions are not where they come so it means it is exactly where from these voices come from!

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

"Silence is NOT emptiness. There are some lessons which sound... cannot teach." --Artemis (DD1) 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@WhatsNextIWonder]

If we're speculating that the default mode network is where our active sense of self is stored or created, it makes sense that meditation and deep breathing help clam your brain.

[@harshitsingh8721]

“A brain 🧠 watching a video about the brain 🧠, while another brain 🧠 explains mysterious things about the brain, and a brain 🧠 reads this comment.”

[@valmoodley1857]

Amazing!!!

[@henrycardona2940]

What about how we are using words to explain something to someone with the same understanding of all the information being presented along with the ability to create perceptions as the narrator, but also the main character, yet the rest of us are also somehow separately thinking our own words in our heads, but the words in our heads are not heard by others.

[@Kaa864]

The brain is the only thing in the universe that named itself .

[@LMGFIT]

Lmao

[@DanDukeBox]

Big Brain Theory

[@mwkloh]

With people spending more time scrolling on social media content on their phones, that would create a DMN deficit in the brain. What impact does that have on our neurological processes and the reinforcement of our sense of self?

[@Loroths]

This is probably only me bit I have always found the phrase "my brain" a very odd one. As if it is someone else. We are our brain to all intents and purposes. It's like someone who refers to themselves in the third person. "I" and "my brain" is the same thing. The only time I would make a distinction is when referring to unconscious things the brain is doing, but even then I would just say "unconscious." The amount of times I hear people say things "my brain is confused, I just want it to sort this problem out" or something like that, almost like blaming a third party. What they really mean is they are not smart enough 😂

[@apple1231230]

i have a hyperactive default mode network, constantly stuck in and out of the present tense

[@wildrabbt]

An ADHD brain be switching between modes in seconds😭😂

[@raise_the_black_flag]

Given the role that the salience network, responsible for attention, plays in the control of network switching and priorities, I wonder how much the rapid attention switching of social media content scrolling causing disordered attention (TikTok especially, but all to some degree) has secondary and tertiary effects on other brain networks and their ability to interact.

[@j.d.4697]

The claims that the mushroom drug makes the brain more "entropic" and "generic" with a temporary loss of sense of personality but potentially helps with depression just plays into my impression that depressed people are more unique. And I am getting really scary visions about a future full of blissfully unaware humans with the same normalized personality.

[@DerMaikNichJa]

How much energy does that need? Would it be possible that this would explain why we don't like to be bored with nothing to do?

[@policeman1104]

So interesting. thank you

[@erwinzer0]

I punch people with my words often unintentionally because I'm autistic, This may have something to do with different DMN patterns in an autistic individual because sometimes when the fixation comes in, following conversation is truly a challenge

[@shreeveda]

Hope you do research on 'realized' souls who can guide and support you by volunteering. You will find such people in India, the spiritual land. Sri M (well known spiritual teacher) is one such person who wants more studies done on Consciousness and what happens in our brains. Please get in touch with him, if you think so.🙏

[@jer103]

The brain and the mind are 2 different things, yet they are also interlinked.

[@petersinclair3997]

Software and hardware?

[@handyhacker11]

Lolol my DMN is failing 😂😂😂 Like its so hard to keep track of a narrative and not just default back to "being, confused, lost" 😂

[@orktv4673]

pony pfp chad

[@somberwindsofficial225]

Perhaps almost complete majority of people are by default insane. When there is nothing happening that requires attention, the true state of the brain is revealed. A dreamlike state where you are talking to somebody in your mind, and that somebody is considered as "you". A bit schizophrenic, right? But, if there is somebody that is "you", can you locate it? Where is it? Then, outside of thinking you have all of these things like seeing, hearing, taste, touch, etc. Who has then the ability to be aware of all of this information coming from the body and the brain? Is it the same that can be likewise aware of the thoughts occurring in the brain? Is there difference between being aware of feeling of touch and being aware of a thought?

[@nooblegook]

Awareness is like light. You can be aware of many layers of your existence: thought, emotions, senses, actions, reactions, reasons behind them, etc... The light of awareness shines everywhere.

[@JazzInATinCan]

I'm interested in what happens under selv-guided floating mind-space, where you don't "do anything" (could sit in a chair, walk etc.) and let you min wander - but do keep conscious about nudging the direction of your thoughts. It this "active" - is it not? is it in between ?

[@145dida]

How my brain fixes things during sleep that I’m working on during the day

[@NavajoNinja]

Dreaming is the mind tapping into hopes, traits and goals of your ancestors through the bodies natural "memory stick" (blood).

[@stellarwind1946]

Blood? Blood is mostly water. How are memories stored in water?

[@NavajoNinja]

@@stellarwind1946 maaaaaaaagic.

[@kiwionkeys]

@@stellarwind1946if you want a more serious answer, dreaming is the minds way of healing and cleaning itself and consolidating your experiences into neural pathways that can be used later. Since your brain doesn’t shut down, and sort of practices existence by firing those neural pathways and reinforcing them, dreams often mirror things you experience, including desires and worries.

[@meilei8716]

We’ve known about this for a while now ❤

[@Milkshakman]

One of the most interesting fallacies of human experience is that we can feel like we're not doing much whilst embedded in oceans of counterfactual mental constructs. What I don't understand is why there is typically a felt resistance to less counterfactual depth. Perhaps because you think if you go too far in that direction, you will be annihilated?

[@vladyslavkorenyak872]

Because only the counterfactuals that impact your reproduction success are being brought naturally to your attention. The brain actually does not care about logical coherency, it did not evolve to.

[@thwartificer]

What do you mean by counterfactual?

[@Milkshakman]

@@thwartificer "As soon as one is ‘away’ from the present moment, one has made an ‘abstraction’. For example, there are the wavelengths of light that represent the shape of a ‘teacup’. However, once it has been conceptualized as a teacup, there is a new level of abstraction that demands further inference from past experience than simply representing the wavelengths of light (i.e., more temporally deep processing). And yet, experiencing a ‘tea cup’ first necessitates the representation of the wavelengths of light contacting the retina (thus, hierarchical processing)." - Laukkonen & Slagter (2021) So a "counterfactual" here could perhaps be considered informally synonymous with "conceptual construction", in the sense that the construction is 'counterfactual' to the constituent parts that lead to its emergence. I recommend that paper for further discussion.

[@Boris29311]

The subconscious mind is always thinking 😮

[@AnimeFridays]

Be interesting to see these studies on someone with Aphantasia such as myself

[@megaskater815]

What a cool video!

[@whitneyhobbs8234]

You: My brain is malfunctioning Mushrooms: Have you tried turning it off and back on again?

[@mrmustard1633]

wasnt robin carhart harris' study at imperial the first to link psychedelics and the DMN? deserves a mention

[@jerrycapodilupo9195]

❤ Meditate is a default - mode - network.....