Vigilance decrement and mind-wandering in sustained attention tasks: Two sides of the same coin?

Martínez-Pérez, Víctor; Andreu, Almudena; Sandoval-Lentisco, Alejandro; Tortajada, Miriam; Palmero, Lucía B.; Castillo, Alejandro; Campoy, Guillermo; Fuentes, Luis J. · 2023 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1122406

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Summary

This study investigates whether vigilance decrement and mind-wandering (MW) in sustained attention tasks are distinct phenomena or manifestations of a shared mechanism, specifically testing the "resource control" model which posits that both result from depleted executive resources. To address this, the authors conducted an experiment with 78 healthy adults, utilizing a 2x2 factorial design that crossed task demand (low vs. high) with transcranial direct current stimulation (anodal vs. sham) applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC). Participants performed the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), which included periodic thought probes to measure intentional and unintentional MW. Additionally, resting-state EEG was recorded before and after stimulation to assess baseline alpha-band power as a predictor of performance and stimulation effects. The results revealed a double dissociation between the two phenomena. Task demand exclusively affected vigilance decrement: performance declined linearly over time only in the high-demand condition, while remaining stable in the low-demand condition. Conversely, anodal HD-tDCS exclusively affected MW rates: stimulation increased MW specifically in the second half of the task compared to sham, with no significant effect on vigilance decrement. Furthermore, the slope of the vigilance decrement function did not correlate with MW rates, supporting the view that these are independent processes. A novel finding emerged from the EEG analysis: individual variability in baseline alpha power predicted tDCS-related gains in unintentional MW but not vigilance decrement. This baseline alpha power remained stable across the task, suggesting it is a trait-like characteristic that modulates susceptibility to stimulation-induced MW. These findings challenge the resource control model by demonstrating that vigilance decrement and MW can be dissociated through specific manipulations of task demands and neural stimulation. The lack of correlation between the two measures suggests they do not share a single underlying mechanism. Instead, the study highlights the importance of individual differences in alpha oscillations, providing the first evidence that baseline alpha power is a crucial predictor of how tDCS modulates mind-wandering propensity. This distinction has implications for understanding the neural correlates of sustained attention and for designing interventions that target specific cognitive failures, such as differentiating between attentional lapses due to resource depletion and those due to task-unrelated thoughts.

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Topics

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• sustained attention vigilance
• vigilance
• neuro workload indices
• mind wandering