The role of the default mode network in component processes underlying the wandering mind
Giulia Poerio, Mladen Sormaz, Hao-ting Wang, Daniel Margulies, Elizabeth Jefferies, Jonathan Smallwood
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience March 21, 2017 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx041 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Citations | 185 |
| Key findings | The default mode network contributes to mind-wandering through both stimulus-independent cognition via strong subsystem coupling and by enabling memory representations to form conscious experience. |
Abstract
Experiences such as mind-wandering illustrate that cognition is not always tethered to events in the here-and-now. Although converging evidence emphasises the default mode network (DMN) in mind-wandering, its precise contribution remains unclear. The DMN comprises cortical regions that are maximally distant from primary sensory and motor cortex, a topological location that may support the stimulus-independence of mind-wandering. The DMN is functionally heterogeneous, comprising regions engaged by memory, social cognition and planning; processes relevant to mind-wandering content. Our study examined the relationships between: (i) individual differences in resting-state DMN connectivity, (ii) performance on memory, social and planning tasks and (iii) variability in spontaneous thought, to investigate whether the DMN is critical to mind-wandering because it supports stimulus-independent cognition, memory retrieval, or both. Individual variation in task performance modulated the functional organization of the DMN: poor external engagement was linked to stronger coupling between medial and dorsal subsystems, while decoupling of the core from the cerebellum predicted reports of detailed memory retrieval. Both patterns predicted off-task future thoughts. Consistent with predictions from component process accounts of mind-wandering, our study suggests a 2-fold involvement of the DMN: (i) it supports experiences that are unrelated to the environment through strong coupling between its sub-systems; (ii) it allows memory representations to form the basis of conscious experience.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |
Citations in the library
Cited by 31
- The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world Nature Reviews Neuroscience January 22, 2021
- Default mode network can support the level of detail in experience during active task states Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences August 27, 2018
- Distant from input: Evidence of regions within the default mode network supporting perceptually-decoupled and conceptually-guided cognition Neuroimage January 12, 2018
- Resting-state fMRI functional connectivity and mindfulness in clinical and non-clinical contexts: A review and synthesis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews February 22, 2022
- The contemplative exercise through the lenses of predictive processing: A promising approach. Progress in Brain Research 2019
and 26 more in the library
Cites 13
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 26, 2009
- 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
- The wandering brain: Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of mind-wandering and related spontaneous thought processes Neuroimage February 25, 2015
and 8 more in the library