Replay, the default mode network and the cascaded memory systems model
Nature Reviews Neuroscience August 15, 2022 Karola Kaefer, Federico Stella, B. McNaughton et al.
Spontaneous replay of past experiences and coherent activation of the default mode network (DMN) are both prominent during rest, and the authors propose they are deeply linked. Their cascaded memory systems model hypothesizes that the DMN serves as a backbone for propagating replay, mediating interactions between the hippocampus and neocortex to consolidate new memories. The DMN may also independently ignite replay cascades that reactivate older memories or high-level semantic representations. Transient cortical activations that induce long-range correlations across the neocortex are suggested as a key mechanism supporting a hierarchy of representations from simple percepts to episodes.