Narrative imagery: Emotional modulation in the default mode network.
Nicola Sambuco, M. Bradley, P. Lang
Neuropsychologia November 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108087 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subject design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key points | Imagining pleasant events increases medial prefrontal cortex activity more than unpleasant events, and emotional (pleasant or unpleasant) imagery activates multiple DMN regions more than neutral imagery. |
Abstract
The default mode network (DMN) is activated when constructing and imagining narrative events, with functional brain activity in one region, the medial-prefrontal cortex, hypothesized to be modulated during emotional processing by adding value (or pleasure) to the episodic representation. However, since enhanced reactivity during emotional, compared to neutral, content is a more frequent finding in both the brain and body in physiological, neural, and behavioral measures, the current study directly assesses the effects of pleasure and emotion during narrative imagery in the DMN by using a within-subject design to first identify the DMN during resting state and then assess activation during pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant imagery. Replicating previous findings, enhanced functional activity in the medial prefrontal cortex was found when imagining pleasant, compared to unpleasant, events. In addition, emotion-related activation was found when imagining either pleasant or unpleasant, compared to neutral, events, in other nodes of the DMN including the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), angular gyrus, anterior hippocampus, lateral temporal cortex, temporal pole, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). Pervasive emotional modulation in the DMN is consistent with the view that a primary function of event retrieval and construction is to remember, recreate, and imagine motivationally relevant events important for planning adaptive behavior.
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 3
- Eigenmodes of the deep unconscious: the neuropsychology of Jungian archetypes and psychedelic experience. Neuroscience of Consciousness October 18, 2025
- Are Dreams Narrative Experiences? How Assumptions About Fictional Narratives Shape Debates on Dream Experiences Topoi December 3, 2025
- Cognition, emotion, and the default mode network. Brain and Cognition October 30, 2024
Cites 5
- 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
- Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Nature Communications July 18, 2016
- Episodic Memory Retrieval, Parietal Cortex, and the Default Mode Network: Functional and Topographic Analyses Journal of Neuroscience March 23, 2011
- Functional connectivity in the resting brain: A network analysis of the default mode hypothesis Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences December 27, 2002