Coexistence of the Social Semantic Effect and Non-Semantic Effect in the Default Mode Network
Guangyao Zhang, Jinyi Hung, Nan Lin
The default mode network (DMN) in the brain shows both semantic and non-semantic effects, sparking debate about its role in semantic processing. Four views exist: the DMN supports general semantics, semantic effects are confounded by task difficulty, the same DMN areas serve both semantic and non-semantic functions, or the DMN contains multiple subnetworks for different semantic aspects. An fMRI experiment found that within a DMN subnetwork called the social semantic network, all areas showed social semantic activation and difficulty-induced deactivation. The ventral angular gyrus, previously interpreted as showing only difficulty effects, exhibited social semantic activation independent of difficulty.