Daydreaming and mind-wandering appear to occur when parts of the brain fall asleep while other areas remain awake.
Contrary to popular belief, researchers report allowing your mind to wander in some situations does not result in failure of executive control or a dysfunctional cognitive state. People are able to strategically allow their minds to wander without impacting performance on a task.
Researchers report two neural networks broadly overlap in people who intentionally let their minds wander.