Mapping the subcortical connectivity of the human default mode network
bioRxiv July 14, 2021 Jian Li, W. Curley, B. Guérin et al. preprint
The default mode network (DMN) supports self-awareness and introspection, key to consciousness. Using 7 Tesla resting-state functional MRI data from 168 healthy volunteers and a novel NASCAR tensor decomposition method, researchers mapped DMN subcortical connectivity. They found that signals in the central lateral thalamus and ventral tegmental area strongly correlate with the DMN, with additional sites in the median and dorsal raphe, lateral hypothalamus, and caudate nuclei. The putamen and globus pallidus are anti-correlated with the DMN, supporting the mesocircuit hypothesis of consciousness. This map can guide therapeutic neuromodulation targets for patients with disorders of consciousness.