The role of default mode network in semantic cue integration
Lucilla Lanzoni, Daniela Ravasio, H. Thompson, Deniz Vatansever, D. Margulies, Jonathan Smallwood, Elizabeth Jefferies
Neuroimage June 6, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117019 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Functional MRI experiment Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | facial emotion |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | Convergent spatial and emotional cues elicited stronger activation in default mode network regions compared to single cues, supporting DMN's role in information integration. |
Abstract
Recent accounts of large-scale cortical organisation suggest that the default mode network (DMN) is positioned at the top of a principal gradient, reflecting the separation between heteromodal and unimodal sensory-motor regions in patterns of connectivity and in geodesic distance along the cortical surface (Margulies et al., 2016). This isolation of DMN from external inputs might allow the integration of disparate sources of information that can constrain subsequent cognition. We tested this hypothesis by manipulating the degree to which semantic decisions for ambiguous words (e.g. jam) were constrained by preceding visual cues depicting relevant spatial contexts (e.g. supermarket or road) and/or facial emotions (e.g. happy vs. frustrated). We contrasted (i) the effects of a single preceding cue with a no-cue condition employing scrambled images, and (ii) convergent spatial and emotion cues with single cues. Single cues elicited stronger activation in the multiple demand network relative to no cues, consistent with the requirement to maintain information in working memory. The availability of two convergent cues elicited stronger activation within DMN regions (bilateral angular gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate), even though behavioural performance was unchanged by cueing – consequently task difficulty is unlikely to account for the observed differences in brain activation. A regions-of-interest analysis along the unimodal-to-heteromodal principal gradient revealed maximal activation for the convergent cue condition at the heteromodal end, corresponding to the DMN. Our findings are consistent with the view that regions of DMN support states of information integration that constrain ongoing cognition and provide a framework for understanding the location of these effects at the heteromodal end of the principal gradient.
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 10
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- The architecture of the human default mode network explored through cytoarchitecture, wiring and signal flow Nature Neuroscience January 28, 2025
- Distinctive and Complementary Roles of Default Mode Network Subsystems in Semantic Cognition Journal of Neuroscience April 8, 2024
- Individuation of idiomatic sense in inner speech: integrating the Egger–Vygotsky hypothesis with embodied semantics and the default mode network Cognitive Semiotics June 2, 2026
- From default to creativity: prefrontal and cerebellar contributions of the default mode network to goal-directed remote thinking bioRxiv March 17, 2026
and 5 more in the library
Cites 7
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Distant from input: Evidence of regions within the default mode network supporting perceptually-decoupled and conceptually-guided cognition Neuroimage January 12, 2018
- Establishing task- and modality-dependent dissociations between the semantic and default mode networks Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 8, 2015
- Angular default mode network connectivity across working memory load Human Brain Mapping 2017
- Redefining the Role of Limbic Areas in Cortical Processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences February 2016
and 2 more in the library