A “brain fart” is a term for an inexplicably stupid error in a straightforward task made by someone with abundant skill and experience. We are all prone to them.
The latest research show that brain farts are a unique type of cognitive mistake. Unlike errors caused by lack of information or experience, or by distractions. They have a predictable neural pattern that emerges up to 30 seconds before they happen.
When you are absorbed in inward-focused thinking such as daydreaming, a collection of brain regions jointly called the default mode network (DMN) starts furiously popping away. Neuroscientists don’t agree on exactly which parts of the brain compose this network, but they now believe it is one of the busiest neurological systems.
The DMN, while still somewhat mysterious, seems to play many critical roles in overall brain function. It may facilitate the processing of external stimuli by acting as a sort of bushwhacker, carving out communications pathways in the brain. It may foster imagination and creativity. It also appears to be the main culprit in brain farts.
Basically, your brain will take any opportunity to shut down some of its processing systems. Here’s the process step by step:
t-10 minutes
You’re daydreaming, and your medial temporal lobe subsystem, precuneus, medial prefrontal subsystem, and posterior cingulate cortex, which together make up the default mode network (DMN) are all active.
t-5 minutes
You confront a demanding task, such as driving home. Your anterior cingulate and right prefrontal regions, brain areas involved in attention, begin to activate, as do the cerebellum and the parietal, visual, and temporal cortices, which control the motor coordination you need to pilot through traffic. At the same time, the DMN deactivates.
t-30 seconds
Your route is extremely familiar. Your frontal lobes, bored by this habitual task, begin to power down. The retrosplenial cortex in the posterior section of the DMN begins to stir again. When the balance of activity between the DMN and the attention network reaches a certain threshold, you enter an error-prone state. You miss your exit off the highway.
t+5 seconds
Your frontal lobes fire up again at high levels in an attempt to compensate for the error. They return to a state of optimal performance, ready to work on a corrective action.
t+15 seconds
The stress of having made a blunder activates the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, your brain’s “panic button.” You experience a surge of the stress hormone cortisol.
[Source]
Subscribe to my RSS feed for regular updates.
Chapter: Health ::
9 February 2010
