YEAH!
Finally had a look at Prof. Barkley's latest update on SCT, and there is indeed some new data, regarding the Default Mode Network... there is implication that this is involved in the disorder - and it makes sense, the DMN's biggest region actually borders the SPL - Superior Parietal Lobe, the only brain-region so far to have neuro-imaging data implying alterations to its activity.
https://en.wikipedia...lt_mode_network
The fact that ASD is also co-morbid with SCT is also interesting, since alterations within the DMN have been noted in ASD as well... it would, however, considering what the different regions actually do, seem to be somewhat different regions showing abnormalities.
Excessive Mind Wandering, something seen very often within individuals susceptible to depression, is also highly similar to the type of "day-dreaming" or "over-thinking" which individuals with SCT display - SCT has now also finally been proven to be more correlated to depression than ADHD is - more SCT-ers are depressed than ADHD-ers.
https://en.wikipedia.../Mind-wandering
This does indeed imply that the Default Mode Network is connected to the symptoms of SCT... Now then, here's the big question - Dr. Barkley has, in the past, mentioned how he thinks there might be some benefit to get from serotonergic drugs, since they help with other disorders (depression) connected to Mind Wandering - so, which antidepressants show the greatest amount of modulation of activity in the DMN?
If I've got it right btw, then SCT would, like anxious rumination and negative depressive mind wandering, be connected to an OVERLY active and too well-connected DMN - it shouldn't be turning on as often as it does - it's not necessary to day-dream, zone out and over-think every single thing as much as us SCT-ers do!
So... which drugs alter the DMN? And which SSRI's have the greatest effect on Mind Wandering? What makes you less prone to creating random thoughts regarding the things the DMN help you control?
Paroxetine? Fluoxetine?
EDIT: I see that there are references to hallucinogenics, such as LSD and Psilocybin, serotonergic ones, also altering activity in the DMN... I am ill eager to test such substances, but if the evidence is strong... possibly I might look into non-hallucinogenic or lower-potency agonists here - allowing for more control. The fact that stimulants and NRI's have some effect on both mine and others symptoms, as well as evidence that SNRI's like Duloxetine alters activity in the DMN as well, does imply that possibly we are talking about a Serotonin/Norepinephrine axis here, compared to the Dopamine/Norepinephrine axis of ADHD.
References:
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Antidepressants Normalize the Default Mode Network in Patients With Dysthymia
https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC3935731/
(dysthymia is more similar to SCT than regular depression - could there be a connection? The fact that the drug in question is an SNRI, Duloxetine, which is also effective for anxiety, is also intriguing)
Validation of the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale and the Relationship of Mind Wandering to Impairment in Adult ADHD.
https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/27255536
(the above study concerns adhd and mind wandering, but as we all know, research on both ADHD and SCT is sadly corrupted and confused to an immense extent - as such, this might be used as an argument for mind wandering in SCT as well)
Where the depressed mind wanders: Self-generated thought patterns as assessed through experience sampling as a state marker of depression
http://www.sciencedi...165032715313914
http://www.chadd.org...ell Barkley.pdf
Edited by Stinkorninjor, 29 December 2017 - 06:56 PM.