Variations of autonomic arousal mediate the reportability of mind blanking occurrences.

ABSTRACT: Mind blanking (MB) is the inability to report mental events during unconstraint thinking. Previous work shows that MB is linked to decreased levels of cortical arousal, indicating dominance of cerebral mechanisms when reporting mental states. What remains inconclusive is whether MB can also ensue from autonomic arousal manipulations, pointing to the implication of peripheral physiology to mental events. Using experience sampling, neural, and physiological measurements in 26 participants, we first show that MB was reported more frequently in low arousal conditions, elicited by sleep deprivation. Also, there was partial evidence for a higher occurence of MB reports in high arousal conditions, elicited by intense physical exercise. Transition probabilities revealed that, after sleep deprivati

SUBMITTER: Boulakis PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11811146 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature