Subconscious prediction of external signals during mind-wandering, but not focused attention, mental states. N-of-1 study.

This publication represents a “N-of-1” study where experiments were designed and performed by the same person. The data were collected and analyzed, considering all the necessary statistical requirements. The goal of the study was to investigate electrographic correlates of two mental states: mind wandering (MW) and focused attention (FA). The transition from MW to FA was initiated by the click that occurred at three minutes of the MW session. The presented data showed that, on average, during FA, the power in the delta frequency band is lower than during the MW state; however, the analysis of sequential time windows revealed that these changes occur only during the first 8 seconds of the FA mental state. Microstate analysis revealed changes in multiple microstate parameters, but only during the first two seconds of the focused attention state. An unexpected finding was an increase in Global Field Power (GFP) of microstates in the 10-8-second window preceding the switch from MW to the FA state. This prediction was detected in the MW state, but not in the FA state. The precision and accuracy of prediction during the MW state were twice as good as those of the prediction performed intentionally in the FA state. These data indicate that our brain is subconsciously observing the external environment and making predictions of upcoming events that occur at long, such as 3 minutes, intervals, such as three minutes. The presented results require further confirmation in other subjects and other experimental paradigms.