Cognitive flexibility in and out of the laboratory: task switching, sustained attention, and mind wandering

Abstract

Our daily lives require cognitive flexibility to optimize our behavior in changing environments. Cognitive psychology has studied this topic in a variety of ways — from task switching to studies of sustained attention and attention lapses in simple laboratory and more complex tasks. The current paper integrates these topics and briefly reviews the neuroscience underlying the external and internal attentional states responsible for cognitive flexibility. Functional connectivity between brain networks associated with cognitive control (e.g. dorsal attention, frontoparietal, and ventral attention networks) and mind wandering (e.g. default mode network) play an important role in cognitive flexibility. The antagonistic relationship between these and other attentional networks mediate task switching and task engagement. Here, we provide a summary of recent findings on how these dynamics between brain networks are associated with flexible cognitive control between tasks and within a task.