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Escaping the here and now: Evidence for a role of the default mode network in perceptually decoupled thought

Jonathan Smallwood, Christine M. Tipper, Kevin Brown, Benjamin Baird, Haakon Engen, Joseph R. Michaels, Scott T. Grafton, Jonathan W. Schooler

Neuroimage December 20, 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.12.012 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational fMRI experiment Peer reviewed
Population Participants in an fMRI study (exact number not specified)
Topics Default mode network
Keywords Perception Cognition Cognitive psychology Posterior cingulate Action physics Mind-wandering
Citations 145
Key findings The medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate, major hubs of the default mode network, showed greater activity both when actions independent of immediate perceptual input were faster and when actions based on perceptual input were slower, suggesting the DMN is involved in perceptually decoupled cognition regardless of whether it leads to action or competes with current goals.

Abstract

Cognition that is not based on perception can lead to at least two different outcomes. In some situations, cognition that is independent of perception can allow actions to be selected other than those prescribed by immediate perceptual input. In others, cognition can be independent of perception and unrelated to the current behavioral goal allowing thoughts to develop that are largely independent of the actions involved in an external task. The default mode network (DMN) has been implicated in both of these kinds of perceptually decoupled thought. The current experiment used functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore whether a common region of this network was co-activated by both of these states. Both the medial pre-frontal cortex and the posterior cingulate - two major hubs of the DMN - showed greater activity when (i) actions that did not depend upon immediate perceptual input were faster and (ii) when actions based on perceptual input were slower. Together these data suggest that the DMN is important in cognition that is independent from perceptual input regardless of whether such thoughts result in action, or, instead compete with the behavioral goals of the moment.

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

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