Recruitment of the default mode network during a demanding act of executive control
Ben M Crittenden, Daniel J Mitchell, John Duncan
Elife April 13, 2015 DOI: 10.7554/elife.06481 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Empirical study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Human brain |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Citations | 202 |
| Key points | The default mode network shows increased activity during a large and demanding switch in task set and encodes task-relevant information during task performance. |
Abstract
In the human brain, a default mode or task-negative network shows reduced activity during many cognitive tasks and is often associated with internally-directed processes, such as mind wandering and thoughts about the self. In contrast to this task-negative pattern, we show increased activity during a large and demanding switch in task set. Furthermore, we employ multivoxel pattern analysis and find that regions of interest within default mode network are encoding task-relevant information during task performance. Activity in this network may be driven by major revisions of cognitive context, whether internally or externally focused.