A new study has revealed that reminiscing can improve performance while taking on challenging mental tasks. The research was led by Cornell University neuroscientist Nathan Spreng and it showed that engaging brain areas to so-called 'off-task' mental activities, like mind-wandering and reminiscing, could enhance the mental performance.

The results provided insight into how externally and internally focused neural networks interact to facilitate complex thought. Previously, several studies have showed that default activation network interferes with complex mental tasks. But their results showed that the mental processes associated with default network reduce the chances of achieving task goals. For example, if a person is thinking about last weekend while taking notes during a lecture, the ability to take notes and keep up would suffer.

But, the new research has debunked the belief, claiming that off-task processes like reminiscing could support rather than conflict with the aims of the experimental task.

"The prevailing view is that activating brain regions referred to as the default network impairs performance on attention-demanding tasks because this network is associated with behaviors such as mind-wandering", said Nathan Spreng from the Cornell University.

Spring said the latest study is the first to show the opposite, which means that engaging the default network can actually improve performance.

The conclusion was based on the study conducted on 36 young adults who were showed sets of famous and anonymous faces in sequence and were asked to identify if the current face was similar to the one showed two faces back.

It was found that participants performed faster and more accurately when they matched famous faces than anonymous faces. It meant that this short-term memory performance was linked to greater activity in the default network.