One of the unexpected influences of functional brain imaging on studies of cognition is the focus on the resting state. Research on resting-state functional connectivity has revealed relatively stable patterns of connections between brain areas, which often differ between individuals with mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Despite the popularity of the study of resting-state functional connectivity, the cognitive processes that take place in the resting state are still not clearly defined. This raises the possibility that the observed differences in functional connectivity are the result of different cognitive content at rest, rather than altered brain structure or functional connections. In this master’s thesis, we wanted to gain a deeper insight into the experience and content of thoughts of individuals at rest and to address whether these differ in people with depression. As functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a specific environment, we have also examined to what extent individuals’ experience of rest differs in and out of the fMRI context. 21 participants were included in the study, of which 10 people had a history of depression, and 11 had not been diagnosed with a mental disorder. Using a first-person phenomenological interview technique, we gathered reports on the experience after participants had been resting in a room of the research section of the University Psychiatric Clinic Ljubljana. 10 participants (five depressed and five non-depressed) also rested during a simultaneous functional MRI brain scan, again followed by a phenomenological interview. We used the analytical approach of constructivist grounded theory to create a taxonomy of experiential categories. Participants' experience during rest turned out to be more heterogeneous than was recognized by previous research. A descriptive comparison of experience showed that experience during rest differed in certain aspects when participants were resting in the magnetic resonance. On the other hand, the descriptive comparison showed no significant differences in experience during rest between depressed and normative participants, suggesting that the previously observed changes in brain connectivity at rest in people with depression may reflect changes in brain functioning rather than altered cognition at rest.
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