Default Mode Network : Its Implications in Psychiatry

The brain's default mode network (DMN) is a rapidly growing topic in neuroscience, characterized by high resting metabolic activity that decreases during externally directed attention. Its presence was anticipated as early as the 1920s but was serendipitously discovered by neuroradiologists using functional neuroimaging at Washington University School of Medicine. The network was formally named around the turn of the millennium, based on work by Raichle and others in 2001.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The brain’s “default mode network” is among the most rapidly growing neuroscientific topics of the new millennium. Since the appointment of its name in the turn of the millenium (Raichle and others 2001), the default network has garnered considerable interest for its high level of resting metabolic activity, which decreases in the face of externally-directed attention (Minoshima and others 1997; Gusnard and Raichle 2001). Though its presence was anticipated by some Neuro-scientists as early as late 1920s, it was a serendipitous discovery by a group of Neuroradiologists working on functional neuro-imaging at Washington University School of Medicine.