Resting state default mode network is associated with wise advising.

Default mode network (DMN) may be associated with wisdom (i.e., mature understanding of life featured by perspectival metacognition) when advising from a self-referential perspective due to the involvement of the DMN in reflecting on personal life experiences. After a resting-state functional MRI scan, 52 adults advised some youths going through life dilemmas, half from a second-person perspective and half from a third. After advising each youth, participants indicated the psychological distance they felt between themselves and the youth. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was measured in the DMN during resting states. Moreover, trained raters rated the participants' advice on wisdom criteria (i.e., metacognitive humility (MH), meta-level flexibility, and perspective-taking). The results showed that participants felt a significantly smaller psychological distance from the youth when advising from the second- than the third-person perspective. Moreover, only when advising from the second-person perspective was MH associated with ALFF in regions within the DMN (i.e., right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex). The right rostral ACC showed a significantly greater association with MH from the second- than the third-person perspective. Therefore, resting-state DMN activities may be important for self-involved wisdom performance (e.g., giving advice directly to others).

Future-oriented temporal perspective promotes wise reasoning.

OBJECTIVE: Across three experiments (N = 622), we investigated the effect of the future temporal perspective on wise reasoning within the context of interpersonal conflicts. METHOD: Studies 1 and 2 applied two heterogeneous measurements of wise reasoning: self-report and open-ended measurements. Participants reasoned about their recent interpersonal conflicts from a future (i.e., 1 year from now) or a present perspective. Similarly, Study 3 tested the relationship between various future temporal distances (i.e., 1 week, 1 year, 10 years, 30 years from now) and wise reasoning. RESULTS: The future temporal perspective significantly promoted wise reasoning compared to the present perspective, especially when the focus was 30 years in the future. Moreover, reasoning about a conflict event from a future perspective first might cause a carry-over effect on reasoning from the present perspective later. CONCLUSION: Future-oriented temporal perspective significantly improves wise reasoning.