Effects of mind-wandering on cognitive and neural processes: Identifying specific impairments in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Horáková, Gabriela; Weibel, Sébastien; Tissot, Ugo; Pham, Bich-Thuy; Costache, Madalina Elena; Bonnefond, Anne · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1101/2025.09.19.677328

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Summary

This study investigates the specific cognitive and neural impairments associated with mind-wandering (MW) in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While excessive MW is commonly linked to ADHD, previous research has largely relied on trait-level questionnaires, leaving the real-time phenomenology and underlying neural mechanisms underexplored. The authors aimed to characterize the frequency of spontaneous versus deliberate MW, its relationship to symptom severity, and its distinct impact on behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERPs) in medication-naïve adults with ADHD compared to healthy controls. The study included 56 participants: 28 medication-naïve adults diagnosed with ADHD and 28 healthy controls, matched for age, sex, and education. Participants completed a prolonged Go/No-Go sustained attention task (SART) while undergoing EEG recording. Thought probes were administered after each block to assess attentional state (on-task, spontaneous MW, or deliberate MW) and subjective states (motivation, boredom, fatigue). Performance metrics included commission errors, reaction times, and reaction time variability. EEG analysis focused on three ERP components: P100 (early visual processing), P3b (attention allocation), and correct response negativity (CRN; performance monitoring). Results indicated that spontaneous MW was significantly more frequent in the ADHD group (43%) than in controls (23%) and correlated positively with inattention and impulsivity/hyperactivity symptom severity. Behaviorally, MW had differentiated negative impacts: it increased reaction time variability and slowed response speed in patients, whereas it reduced accuracy (increased commission errors) in controls. Neural analysis revealed that both groups exhibited reduced P100 and P3b amplitudes during MW, indicating shared deficits in early perceptual and attentional processing. However, a critical group-specific impairment was identified in performance monitoring: the CRN amplitude was significantly reduced during MW only in the ADHD group, whereas it remained stable in controls. These findings suggest that while perceptual and attentional decoupling during mind-wandering is a general phenomenon, the impairment of performance monitoring processes is specific to adults with ADHD. This identifies performance monitoring as a key mechanism underlying the unique cognitive deficits associated with mind-wandering in ADHD, offering a potential target for understanding the disorder's neural basis and developing targeted interventions.

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• mind wandering