Is the brain at rest during the so-called resting state? Ongoing experiences in the resting
state vary in unobserved and uncontrolled ways across time, individuals, and populations.
However, the role of self-generated thoughts in resting-state fMRI remains largely
unexplored. In this study, we collected real-time self-generated thoughts during “resting-
state” fMRI scans via the think-aloud method (ie, think-aloud fMRI), which required
participants to report whatever they were currently thinking. We first investigated brain …

Is the brain at rest during the so-called resting-state? Ongoing experiences in the resting-
state vary in unobserved and uncontrolled ways across time, individuals, and populations.
However, the role of self-generated thoughts in resting-state fMRI remains largely
unexplored. In this study, we collected realtime self-generated thoughts during resting-state
fMRI scans via the think-aloud method (ie, think-aloud fMRI), which required participants to
report whatever they were currently thinking. We first investigated brain activation patterns …