You too have the feeling of think better in the shower? How many discussions won, if only we had a portable shower available … but what do you think science? In the simple activity of taking a shower there are many elements that favor a particular neurophysiological structure, i.e. the activation of the Default Mode Network (DMN)a set of active and connected brain areas in rest states or when we are engaged in activities that require little attention. Different research confirm how the noise water prepares to relaxation and the contact of the skin with thehot water increases this effect, decreasing it stress And allowing our mind to wander free to produce brilliant thoughts or great ideas. Wander with the mind in the shower, as far as it is not never been studied directlytherefore it seems to have many features they positively predispose to the activation of the DMN and thecreative association of ideas.
Wander with your mind taking a shower
There are no (again) studies that have measured the default mode network while a subject is physically in the shower, probably due to the technical difficulties of setting such an experiment. However, thanks to Research lines convergent in other areas, Like those on the effects of water sounds and on the tasks with low attention, we know that contexts that reproduce the sensory characteristics of a shower (noise, temperature, brightness) have an impact in the activity of the DMN. This authorizes to consider highly probable that, during a comfortable shower, the DMN is more active (or not inhibited) compared to when we are engaged in a demanding external task.
Taking a shower is in fact an activity that involves many aspects which, generically, help us to relaxand therefore to prepare our mind at free associations. The flow of water on ours skin, the generally hot temperature that promotes relaxation and sound of drops falling in us a sense of “concentrated relaxation“. A Korean study found that, exposed to the sound of a waterfall, the brain increases the alpha and beta waves And the Delta and Theta waves decreases. This could mean that the sound of the flowing water has a relaxation effect on the body and, at the same time, promotes theactivity of thought.
Some searches have then shown that the mental digression it is more stimulated if we are busy in UNDERNALIFUL ACTIVITIES How to wash the dishes, take a walk or, in fact, take a shower, compared to the total take nothing.
Then there is a theory, called “attentive restoration theory“It suggests that natural environments reduce the cognitive load, and that this would lead to an increase in the Mind Wandering and the activity of the default mode. water sound which flows, which evolutionary can report a source of life and the presence of a place to refresh themselves from the heat and thirst, can activate a positive effect of relaxation in us. But this evolutionary reading, at the moment, is alone a hypothesis.
What is the default mode network and why it is important to “wander with the mind”
Let thoughts go, casually meet memories oo sensations of the past, reflect without constraints on our life. All this depends on a neural network in our brain: the Default Mode Network (DMN), which includes the rear cing, prefrontal and temporal cortexes and the Preconeum. When we are a rest Our brain does not stop at all. On the contrary, it enters a phase of intense mental activity, triggering the DMN that deals with different important tasks: it makes us think of past events and imagine future situations, invents Possible scenarioshelps us better understand who we are and how we relate to others, and allows us to elaborate emotions.
Its peculiarity is to be a vast widespread networkand thanks to this wide structure allows The integration of information between cerebral areas very distant from each other. In the moments when the DMN is activated, we leave room for our brain to digress and connect distant thoughts, allowing us to connect problems and find solutions in an open and creative way.
