Sender-receiver subdivisions of the default mode network in perceptual and memory-guided cognition.
Meichao Zhang, Casey Paquola, Katya Krieger-Redwood, Brontë Mckeown, Charlotte Murphy, Chang Liu, Daniel S Margulies, Robert Leech, Jonathan Smallwood, Elizabeth Jefferies
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences April 14, 2026 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2528851123 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study with convergent analyses across three fMRI datasets Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Functional connectivity Internal-external attention Memory Perception |
| Key findings | The default mode network contains spatially distinct subregions that are preferentially engaged during perceptual decisions about faces versus memory-guided decisions, with a double dissociation between connectivity profiles and cognitive engagement. |
Abstract
Everyday cognition depends on the brain's capacity to shift between sensing the external world and constructing it from memory. To achieve this, large-scale cortical systems must flexibly integrate incoming sensory signals with internally generated representations. Here, we show that this flexibility is reflected in the macroscale architecture of the default mode network (DMN). Using convergent analyses across three independent fMRI datasets spanning directional connectivity, intrinsic organization, and task-evoked responses, we identify spatially distinct DMN subregions that are preferentially engaged during perceptual decisions about faces or memory-guided decisions based on previously seen images. These subregions correspond to a microarchitectural distinction, captured via directional and intrinsic connectivity profiles: regions preferentially engaged during face perception align with receiver-like, afferent-biased zones that show strong intrinsic connectivity across the heteromodal cortex, a profile that might support information integration during perceptually guided decision-making. In contrast, memory-guided, perceptually decoupled decisions differentially engage sender-like, efferent-biased zones that show broader connectivity with perceptual-motor and attentional systems beyond the DMN. This double dissociation demonstrates a systematic association between DMN connectivity and engagement during perceptually coupled versus memory-guided cognitive processes, providing an organizational account of how DMN architecture relates to flexible human thought.
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
Cites 10
- Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 26, 2009
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience July 6, 2009
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis Neuron May 10, 2023
and 5 more in the library