Parviz Khataee

The Default Mode Network as a Pathological Attractor State: A Hypothesis on Self-Reinforcing Cognitive Loops, Contaminated Baselines, and Implications for Human Health and Consciousness

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) August 7, 2026 Parviz Khataee

The Default Mode Network (DMN) has been characterized since its formal description in 2001 as a resting-state network subserving autobiographical memory, social cognition, and prospective thinking. This paper challenges the foundational interpretive assumption of that characterization: that adult human DMN activity constitutes a normal or optimal cognitive baseline. We propose that the DMN, as...