FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE – A new study by researchers from Australia’s Monash University, Belgium’s University of Liege, and France’s Paris Brain Institute has identified mind blanking as a unique mental state, distinct from “mind wandering.”
Published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, the analysis found that mind blanking occurs in 5 to 20% of waking life and involves the absence of reportable thoughts, often linked to sluggishness, drowsiness, or lapses in attention.
The phenomenon tends to arise during monotonous tasks, after sleep deprivation, or intense activity, and is more frequent in individuals with ADHD or conditions like anxiety and sleep disorders.
Brain scans show that before mind blanking occurs, specific patterns emerge in the frontal, temporal, and visual brain regions.
During blanking, brain activity simplifies, heart rates and pupil sizes drop, and brainwaves mimic those seen in sleep.
Remarkably, the brain may enter “local sleep,” briefly shutting down certain areas while awake. Both rapid thought processes and efforts to “empty the mind” can trigger blanking by deactivating regions involved in memory, speech, and motor control.
The researchers urged recognition of mind blanking as a unique state, which could deepen the understanding of consciousness and attention.