World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Jonathan Smallwood

Jonathan Smallwood

D-Index & Metrics

Neuroscience

D-Index
96
Citations
43135
World Ranking
849
National Ranking
45

Psychology

D-Index
94
Citations
42282
World Ranking
798
National Ranking
36

Overview

Jonathan Smallwood is affiliated with Queen's University in Canada and has a prominent record of research in neuroscience, particularly in cognitive neuroscience. Their work spans several interconnected fields including experimental and cognitive psychology, radiology and imaging, social psychology, and cellular and molecular neuroscience.

The scientist's research topics cover a wide range of areas such as functional brain connectivity studies, neural dynamics and brain function, mind wandering and attention, neural and behavioral psychology studies, EEG and brain-computer interfaces, advanced neuroimaging techniques and applications, and memory and neural mechanisms.

Among recent notable papers, the following stand out:

  • The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective (2021, Nature reviews. Neuroscience)
  • BrainSpace: a toolbox for the analysis of macroscale gradients in neuroimaging and connectomics datasets (2020, Communications Biology)
  • Finding the needle in a high-dimensional haystack: Canonical correlation analysis for neuroscientists (2020, NeuroImage)
  • Toward a connectivity gradient-based framework for reproducible biomarker discovery (2020, NeuroImage)
  • Shaping brain structure: Genetic and phylogenetic axes of macroscale organization of cortical thickness (2020, Science Advances)

Frequent co-authors with whom Jonathan Smallwood has collaborated include:

  • Elizabeth Jefferies
  • Boris C. Bernhardt
  • Daniel S. Margulies
  • Robert Leech
  • Jessica Royer

Their publications are mainly found in several key venues that include:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • NeuroImage
  • eLife
  • Nature Communications
  • Scientific Reports

Jonathan Smallwood's main field of study is neuroscience, with a substantial focus on cognitive neuroscience. Their research integrates diverse methodologies and topics, including imaging techniques and behavioral studies, effectively contributing to the understanding of brain function and organization.

Best Publications

  • The restless mind

    Jonathan Smallwood;Jonathan W. Schooler

  • Situating the default-mode network along a principal gradient of macroscale cortical organization

    Daniel S. Margulies;Satrajit S. Ghosh;Satrajit S. Ghosh;Alexandros Goulas;Marcel Falkiewicz

  • The default network and self-generated thought: component processes, dynamic control, and clinical relevance

    Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna;Jonathan Smallwood;R. Nathan Spreng

  • Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering

    Kalina Christoff;Alan M. Gordon;Jonathan Smallwood;Rachelle Smith

  • The Science of Mind Wandering: Empirically Navigating the Stream of Consciousness

    Jonathan Smallwood;Jonathan W. Schooler

  • Inspired by Distraction Mind Wandering Facilitates Creative Incubation

    Benjamin Baird;Jonathan Smallwood;Michael D. Mrazek;Julia W. Y. Kam

  • Meta-awareness, perceptual decoupling and the wandering mind

    Jonathan W. Schooler;Jonathan Smallwood;Kalina Christoff;Todd C. Handy

  • The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective.

    Jonathan Smallwood;Boris C Bernhardt;Robert Leech;Danilo Bzdok

  • Mindfulness and mind-wandering: finding convergence through opposing constructs.

    Michael D. Mrazek;Jonathan Smallwood;Jonathan W. Schooler

  • Subjective experience and the attentional lapse: Task engagement and disengagement during sustained attention

    Jonathan Smallwood;John B. Davies;Derek Heim;Frances Finnigan

  • Back to the future: Autobiographical planning and the functionality of mind-wandering

    Benjamin Baird;Jonathan Smallwood;Jonathan W. Schooler

  • BrainSpace: a toolbox for the analysis of macroscale gradients in neuroimaging and connectomics datasets

    Reinder Vos de Wael;Oualid Benkarim;Casey Paquola;Sara Lariviere

  • Distinguishing how from why the mind wanders: A process–occurrence framework for self-generated mental activity.

    Jonathan Smallwood

  • Going awol in the brain: Mind wandering reduces cortical analysis of external events

    Jonathan Smallwood;Emily Beach;Jonathan W. Schooler;Todd C. Handy

  • Shifting moods, wandering minds: negative moods lead the mind to wander.

    Jonathan Smallwood;Annamay Fitzgerald;Lynden K. Miles;Louise H. Phillips

  • When attention matters: The curious incident of the wandering mind

    Jonathan Smallwood;Merrill McSpadden;Jonathan W. Schooler

  • Microstructural and functional gradients are increasingly dissociated in transmodal cortices

    Casey Paquola;Reinder Vos De Wael;Konrad Wagstyl;Richard A. I. Bethlehem

  • Atypical functional connectome hierarchy in autism

    Seok Jun Hong;Seok Jun Hong;Reinder Vos de Wael;Richard A.I. Bethlehem;Sara Lariviere

  • Counting the cost of an absent mind: mind wandering as an underrecognized influence on educational performance.

    Jonathan Smallwood;Daniel J. Fishman;Jonathan W. Schooler

  • Not all minds that wander are lost: the importance of a balanced perspective on the mind-wandering state

    Jonathan Smallwood;Jessica A. Andrews-Hanna

  • Cooperation between the default mode network and the frontal-parietal network in the production of an internal train of thought

    Jonathan Smallwood;Kevin Brown;Ben Baird;Jonathan W. Schooler

Frequent Co-Authors

Elizabeth Jefferies
Elizabeth Jefferies University of York
Daniel S. Margulies
Daniel S. Margulies Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS
Boris C. Bernhardt
Boris C. Bernhardt Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
Jonathan W. Schooler
Jonathan W. Schooler University of California, Santa Barbara
Casey Paquola
Casey Paquola Forschungszentrum Jülich
Danilo Bzdok
Danilo Bzdok Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
Sara Lariviere
Sara Lariviere Brigham and Women's Hospital
Michael P. Milham
Michael P. Milham Child Mind Institute
Neda Bernasconi
Neda Bernasconi Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
Andrea Bernasconi
Andrea Bernasconi Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital

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