References: Doing nothing
The key studies and reviews behind these pathways – organised by page, so you can see exactly what each claim on the site is based on.
Unstructured rest
- Raichle, M.E., MacLeod, A.M., Snyder, A.Z., Powers, W.J., Gusnard, D.A. & Shulman, G.L. (2001). “A default mode of brain function.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(2), 676–682. Raichle’s own founding paper naming the default mode network, the discovery this page traces the science of rest back to.
- Wilson, T.D., Reinhard, D.A., Westgate, E.C., Gilbert, D.T., Ellerbeck, N., Hahn, C., Brown, C.L. & Shaked, A. (2014). “Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind.” Science, 345(6192), 75–77. The well-known study behind this page’s claim that many people would rather give themselves a mild shock than sit alone with their thoughts.
- Killingsworth, M.A. & Gilbert, D.T. (2010). “A wandering mind is an unhappy mind.” Science, 330(6006), 932. The evidence behind this page’s note that people often feel less happy in the moment when their thoughts drift, even though the drifting itself seems to help memory and problem-solving.