Captivated by thought: "Sticky" thinking leaves traces of perceptual decoupling in task-evoked pupil size.

ABSTRACT: Throughout the day, we may sometimes catch ourselves in patterns of thought that we experience as rigid and difficult to disengage from. Such "sticky" thinking can be highly disruptive to ongoing tasks, and when it turns into rumination constitutes a vulnerability for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. The main goal of the present study was to explore the stickiness dimension of thought, by investigating how stickiness is reflected in task performance and pupil size. To measure spontaneous thought processes, we asked participants to perform a sustained attention to response task (SART), in which we embedded the participant's concerns to potentially increase the probability of observing sticky thinking. The results indicated that sticky thinking was most frequently experienced

SUBMITTER: Huijser S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7725397 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature