Side profile of a female student with long dark hair sitting cross-legged on a low brick wall, reading a book outdoors with a white building in the background.
January 12, 2026

Research by professors Barry Giesbrecht and Jonathan Schooler reveals how “mind-wandering” shapes what we remember, showing that images encountered during attention drifts are often lost.

We all zone out occasionally, but new findings from a team including psychological and brain sciences professors Barry Giesbrecht and Jonathan Schooler suggest these moments come with a cost. “You could literally see the cost of mind-wandering on the page,” said lead author Shivang Shelat, noting that the study proved even brief internal distractions can prevent visual memories from sticking. Read the full story on The Current.


Photo Credit: Matt Perko