Shaped by the Past: The Default Mode Network Supports Cognition that Is Independent of Immediate Perceptual Input
Mahiko Konishi, Donald George McLaren, Haakon Engen, Jonathan Smallwood
PLoS One June 30, 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132209 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study with fMRI Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Citations | 210 |
| Key findings | The DMN supports cognition guided by stored representations rather than immediate perceptual input, as shown by increased activity when recalling past-trial locations versus current-trial locations. |
Abstract
Although many different accounts of the functions of the default mode network (DMN) have been proposed, few can adequately account for the spectrum of different cognitive functions that utilize this network. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the hypothesis that the role of the DMN in higher order cognition is to allow cognition to be shaped by information from stored representations rather than information in the immediate environment. Using a novel task paradigm, we observed increased BOLD activity in regions of the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex when individuals made decisions on the location of shapes from the prior trial and decreased BOLD activity when individuals made decisions on the location of shapes on the current trial. These data are inconsistent with views of the DMN as a task-negative system or one that is sensitive only to stimuli with strong personal or emotional ties. Instead the involvement of the DMN when people make decisions about where a shape was, rather than where it is now, supports the hypothesis that the core hubs of the DMN allow cognition to be guided by information other than the immediate perceptual input. We propose that a variety of different forms of higher order thought (such as imagining the future or considering the perspective of another person) engage the DMN because these more complex introspective forms of higher order thought all depend on the capacity for cognition to be shaped by representations that are not present in the external environment.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study using resting-state fMRI and seed correlation analysis | |
| Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2009 | Experimental study using fMRI | |
| Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Human subjects | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State Healthy human participants | 2013 | Experimental study | |
| The brain on art: intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network Human observers | 2012 | Observational study with fMRI and behavioral analysis |
Citations in the library
Cited by 32
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- 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
- Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex supports context-dependent prioritisation of off-task thought Nature Communications August 23, 2019
and 27 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
- The wandering brain: Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of mind-wandering and related spontaneous thought processes Neuroimage February 25, 2015
- Rat brains also have a default mode network Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences February 21, 2012
and 8 more in the library