Default mode network mediates low‐frequency fluctuations in brain activity and behavior during sustained attention
Hang Zhang, Shiyou Yang, Yang Qiao, Qiu Ge, Yi-Yuan Tang, Georg Northoff, Yu‐feng Zang
Human Brain Mapping July 29, 2022 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26024 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Human participants |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Cognition Neural activity Task-positive network Cognitive psychology Electroencephalography |
| Citations | 27 |
| Key findings | Neural fluctuations in the default-mode network mediate behavioral reaction-time fluctuations during sustained attention, specifically in the 0.01-0.1 Hz frequency range. |
Abstract
The low-frequency (<0.1 Hz) fluctuation in sustained attention attracts enormous interest in cognitive neuroscience and clinical research since it always leads to cognitive and behavioral lapses. What is the source of the spontaneous fluctuation in sustained attention in neural activity, and how does the neural fluctuation relate to behavioral fluctuation? Here, we address these questions by collecting and analyzing two independent fMRI and behavior datasets. We show that the neural (fMRI) fluctuation in a key brain network, the default-mode network (DMN), mediate behavioral (reaction time) fluctuation during sustained attention. DMN shows the increased amplitude of fluctuation, which correlates with the behavioral fluctuation in a similar frequency range (0.01-0.1 Hz) but not in the lower (<0.01 Hz) or higher (>0.1 Hz) frequency range. This was observed during both auditory and visual sustained attention and was replicable across independent datasets. These results provide a novel insight into the neural source of attention-fluctuation and extend the former concept that DMN was deactivated in cognitive tasks. More generally, our findings highlight the temporal dynamic of the brain-behavior relationship.
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 4
- Connecting brain and mind through temporo-spatial dynamics: Towards a theory of common currency. Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025
- Improved mental health outcomes and normalised spontaneous EEG activity in veterans reporting a history of traumatic brain injuries following participation in a psilocybin retreat Frontiers in Psychiatry August 6, 2025
- From pre-stimulus activity to the contents of consciousness - A spatiotemporal view: Reply to comments on "Beyond task response-Pre-stimulus activity modulates contents of consciousness". Physics of Life Reviews July 1, 2025
- The Default Mode Network and inner time consciousness Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences June 1, 2025
Cites 8
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world Nature Reviews Neuroscience January 22, 2021
- How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2017
- Is the self a higher-order or fundamental function of the brain? The "basis model of self-specificity" and its encoding by the brain's spontaneous activity. Cognitive Neuroscience 2016
- Internal and external attention and the default mode network Neuroimage January 18, 2017
and 3 more in the library