The arrow of time of brain signals in cognition: Potential intriguing role of parts of the default mode network
Gustavo Deco, Yonatan Sanz Perl, Laura De la Fuente, Jacobo Sitt, B.T. Thomas Yeo, Enzo Tagliazucchi, Morten L. Kringelbach
Network Neuroscience December 23, 2022 DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00300 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,000 |
| Population | Human participants from the Human Connectome Project |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Human connectome project Cognition Hierarchy Arrow of time Transfer entropy Information flow Connectomics Resting State FMRI Human brain Artificial intelligence Cognitive science Functional connectivity |
| Citations | 43 |
| Key findings | The DMN plays a significant role in orchestrating the hierarchy of nonreversibility in brain dynamics, which changes between resting state and cognitive tasks and differs in health versus neuropsychiatric disorders. |
Abstract
A promising idea in human cognitive neuroscience is that the default mode network (DMN) is responsible for coordinating the recruitment and scheduling of networks for computing and solving task-specific cognitive problems. This is supported by evidence showing that the physical and functional distance of DMN regions is maximally removed from sensorimotor regions containing environment-driven neural activity directly linked to perception and action, which would allow the DMN to orchestrate complex cognition from the top of the hierarchy. However, discovering the functional hierarchy of brain dynamics requires finding the best way to measure interactions between brain regions. In contrast to previous methods measuring the hierarchical flow of information using, for example, transfer entropy, here we used a thermodynamics-inspired, deep learning based Temporal Evolution NETwork (TENET) framework to assess the asymmetry in the flow of events, 'arrow of time', in human brain signals. This provides an alternative way of quantifying hierarchy, given that the arrow of time measures the directionality of information flow that leads to a breaking of the balance of the underlying hierarchy. In turn, the arrow of time is a measure of nonreversibility and thus nonequilibrium in brain dynamics. When applied to large-scale Human Connectome Project (HCP) neuroimaging data from close to a thousand participants, the TENET framework suggests that the DMN plays a significant role in orchestrating the hierarchy, that is, levels of nonreversibility, which changes between the resting state and when performing seven different cognitive tasks. Furthermore, this quantification of the hierarchy of the resting state is significantly different in health compared to neuropsychiatric disorders. Overall, the present thermodynamics-based machine-learning framework provides vital new insights into the fundamental tenets of brain dynamics for orchestrating the interactions between cognition and brain in complex environments.
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 5
- Different hierarchical reconfigurations in the brain by psilocybin and escitalopram for depression Nature Mental Health August 5, 2024
- Nonequilibrium physics of brain dynamics Physics Reports October 24, 2025
- Disrupted hierarchical organization in disorders of consciousness revealed by fluctuation-dissipation deviations bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) October 3, 2025
- Thermodynamics of consciousness: Non-equilibrium brain dynamics track conscious states. Cell Reports July 31, 2026
- Thermodynamics of consciousness: A non-invasive perturbational framework bioRxiv Preprint Server December 9, 2025
Cites 6
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- 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
- Nonequilibrium brain dynamics as a signature of consciousness Physical review. E July 28, 2021
and 1 more in the library