A recent study by researchers from Osaka University has identified specific brain activity patterns associated with daydreaming and mind-wandering. The researchers found that these self-generated thoughts are linked to sharp-wave ripples in the hippocampus, a brain region crucial for memory formation and retrieval. The findings have been published in Nature Communications. The ability to think about things that are not present is a hallmark of human cognition, allowing us to plan for the future, reminisce about the past, and imagine hypothetical scenarios. However, the exact brain mechanisms b…