What is it about?
The goal of the study was test how thinking about thinking (an internal secondary task) affects memory performance. We found that such an internal monitoring task leads to similar memory deficits as an external secondary task. However, it activates different neural networks related to self-perception and performance monitoring.
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Why is it important?
Many patient groups show memory deficits and also increased, perseverative monitoring of their own thoughts, for instance obsessive-compulsive disorder. This study directly links the "thinking about one's thinking" to the memory deficits and elucidates the respective neural underpinnings.
Perspectives
A particularly interesting aspect of this study is how the default-mode network and the salience network are jointly active during "thinking about thinking" - possibly reflecting both the self-referential nature and the internal/external switching while monitoring own thoughts about the external world.
Philipp Kanske
Technische Universitat Dresden
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Thinking about thinking: Neural mechanisms and effects on memory, NeuroImage, February 2016, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.11.067.
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