Electrophysiological Correlates of Naturally Occurring Thought Patterns

Park, YeEun

Electrophysiological Correlates of Naturally Occurring Thought Patterns

dc.contributor.advisor	Kam, Julia
dc.contributor.author	Park, YeEun
dc.contributor.committeemember	Bray, Signe
dc.contributor.committeemember	Iaria, Giuseppe
dc.contributor.committeemember	Protzner, Andrea
dc.date	2024-05
dc.date.accessioned	2024-01-29T18:30:54Z
dc.date.available	2024-01-29T18:30:54Z
dc.date.issued	2024-01-24
dc.description.abstract	Humans engage in a continuous flow of thoughts throughout the day. These thoughts change depending on the context in which they occur and correspond with unique patterns of connectivity within and between neural networks. Notably, less is known about the electrophysiological signatures of these thought patterns. To address this question, this study examined the interplay between thought patterns and electrophysiological activity in internally and externally oriented contexts. Forty-one participants were asked to attend internally to their own thoughts (thought focus condition) and externally to a set of videos (video focus condition), during which they were asked to report various dimensions of their ongoing thoughts. We implemented principal component analysis on the ratings of these multiple thought dimensions and identified three thought patterns (representing co-occurring thought dimensions): present external thought, goal-oriented future thoughts, and freely moving external positive thoughts. We found that these three thought patterns differentially associated with the experimental conditions and EEG measures. Present external thought was more closely associated with the video focus condition and showed increased frontal alpha and posterior alpha. Goal-oriented future thoughts increased during the thought versus video focus condition but was not significantly linked to any EEG measures. Freely moving external positive thoughts were more strongly associated with the video focus condition and showed decreased frontal alpha activity. Taken together, our results highlight the complex relationship between thought patterns and electrophysiological activity in different contexts.
dc.identifier.citation	Park, Y. (2024). Electrophysiological correlates of naturally occurring thought patterns (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118120
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42964
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	EEG
dc.subject	thought
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Cognitive
dc.subject.classification	Neuroscience
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Experimental
dc.title	Electrophysiological Correlates of Naturally Occurring Thought Patterns
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Psychology
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.