Surprising Facts About Daydreaming

A new computer model that simulates periods of mental wandering may give scientists clues about how our brains work. Specifically, the model shows how our brain cells communicate when our minds are either engaged or idle. 

 You daydream less as you get older

Daydreaming is often about anticipating the future, especially in a fantasy context. For instance, young men often have "power fantasies" of what it would be like to be a superhero. But as people get older, the amount of time they spend daydreaming decreases, perhaps as the future shrinks.

 Daydreaming makes you forget what you were doing

If people are asked to daydream about the past, for instance, they tend to forget what they were doing before the daydream started. The type of daydream also affects how much you forget.

 Daydreaming makes you more creative

Many times the "dialogue" that occurs when the daydreaming mind cycles through different parts of the brain accesses information that was dormant or out of reach. Likewise, the daydreaming mind may make an association between bits of information that the person had never considered in that particular way. This accounts for creativity, insights of wisdom and oftentime the solutions to problems that the person had not considered.