Daydream

Daydreaming is a form of spontaneous or voluntary mental activity that occurs while a person is awake, characterized by shifting attention from external tasks to internally generated thoughts, images, or fantasies. It differs from dreaming during sleep and from deliberate imagination in that it often arises without explicit intent and can be triggered by boredom, fatigue, or low cognitive load. Daydream content commonly involves personal concerns, future goals, memory recall, and hypothetical scenarios, ranging from mundane plans to imaginative narratives. People may experience daydreams privately or share them with others in social contexts.

Functions and neural basis: Daydreaming can support future planning, creativity, problem-solving, and mood regulation. It recruits brain networks such as the default mode network and can interact with executive networks during controlled imagination. The frequency and content of daydreams vary with age, personality, and life circumstances, and may decrease with higher attentional demands.

Mental health and development: Moderate daydreaming is a common part of everyday cognition and can aid creative thinking and adaptation. However, excessive or repetitive internal rumination about negative topics is linked to mood and anxiety disorders in some individuals. Practices that affect attention and awareness, such as mindfulness or engagement in meaningful activities, can influence daydream frequency and content.

Other uses and disambiguation: In popular culture and technology, Daydream also refers to Google's Daydream, a mobile virtual reality platform announced in 2016 for Android devices, accompanied by a Daydream View headset. The platform was discontinued as a product line in the late 2010s.