Self-Processing and the Default Mode Network: Interactions with the Mirror Neuron System
Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, Lucina Q. Uddin
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00571 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Mentalization Posterior cingulate Prefrontal cortex Embodied cognition Social neuroscience Mirror neuron Cognitive psychology Cognitive science Resting State FMRI Social cognition Artificial intelligence |
| Citations | 221 |
| Key findings | The default mode network contains functionally distinguishable subdivisions that selectively interact with brain systems for embodied simulation and mentalizing to support self-referential and social-cognitive processing. |
Abstract
Recent evidence for the fractionation of the default mode network (DMN) into functionally distinguishable subdivisions with unique patterns of connectivity calls for a reconceptualization of the relationship between this network and self-referential processing. Advances in resting-state functional connectivity analyses are beginning to reveal increasingly complex patterns of organization within the key nodes of the DMN - medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex - as well as between these nodes and other brain systems. Here we review recent examinations of the relationships between the DMN and various aspects of self-relevant and social-cognitive processing in light of emerging evidence for heterogeneity within this network. Drawing from a rapidly evolving social-cognitive neuroscience literature, we propose that embodied simulation and mentalizing are processes which allow us to gain insight into another's physical and mental state by providing privileged access to our own physical and mental states. Embodiment implies that the same neural systems are engaged for self- and other-understanding through a simulation mechanism, while mentalizing refers to the use of high-level conceptual information to make inferences about the mental states of self and others. These mechanisms work together to provide a coherent representation of the self and by extension, of others. Nodes of the DMN selectively interact with brain systems for embodiment and mentalizing, including the mirror neuron system, to produce appropriate mappings in the service of social-cognitive demands.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Brain's Default Mode Network | 2015 | Review | |
| Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity in Psychopathology | 2012 | Review | |
| 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis | 2023 | Review | |
| On the relationship between the “default mode network” and the “social brain” | 2012 | Review | |
| The default mode network and social understanding of others: what do brain connectivity studies tell us Healthy subjects, with some studies on patients with autism and psychopathy | 2014 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 27
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- The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences: Hypotheses from Evolutionary Psychology Frontiers in Neuroscience September 28, 2017
- Selfhood triumvirate: From phenomenology to brain activity and back again. Consciousness and Cognition November 1, 2020
- Synergistic, multi-level understanding of psychedelics: three systematic reviews and meta-analyses of their pharmacology, neuroimaging and phenomenology. Translational Psychiatry December 4, 2024
- Relating different dimensions of bodily experiences: Review and proposition of an integrative model relying on phenomenology, predictive brain and neuroscience of the self. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews May 1, 2023
and 22 more in the library
Cites 10
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Human Brain Mapping January 24, 2008
- Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience July 6, 2009
- Fractionating the Default Mode Network: Distinct Contributions of the Ventral and Dorsal Posterior Cingulate Cortex to Cognitive Control Journal of Neuroscience March 2, 2011
- Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction Journal of Neuroscience January 19, 2005
and 5 more in the library