The TOT state shares characteristics and empirical patterns with many other cognitive phenomena. Among these shared characteristics are resolution patterns, as in the case of creative problem-solving and the factors that both hinder and contribute to resolution in that domain, and the feeling of closeness that characterizes many subjective metacognitive states (including presque vu, curiosity, familiarity sensations and feelings of knowing). Finally, the TOT state appears to be related to the notion of internally directed cognition, possibly as a window onto how attentional processes are modulated to focus inward vs. outward. Continuing to research the TOT phenomenon could shed important light on broader issues of human cognition, including mechanisms of creative thought, attentional modulation, and the basis of subjective states of awareness in metacognition.