The architecture of the human default mode network explored through cytoarchitecture, wiring and signal flow
Casey Paquola, Margaret Garber, Stefan Frässle, Jessica Royer, Yigu Zhou, Shahin Tavakol, Raul Rodriguez-Cruces, Donna Gift Cabalo, Sofie L. Valk, Simon B. Eickhoff, Daniel S. Margulies, Alan C. Evans, Katrin Amunts, Elizabeth Jefferies, Jonathan Smallwood, Boris C. Bernhardt
Nature Neuroscience January 28, 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01868-0 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Postmortem human brain tissue and in vivo human neuroimaging data |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Cytoarchitecture Human brain Neuroimaging Sensory system Nerve net Cognition |
| Citations | 58 |
| Key findings | The DMN is cytoarchitecturally heterogeneous, contains regions receptive to sensory input and a core insulated from it, and uniquely balances output across sensory hierarchies. |
Abstract
The default mode network (DMN) is implicated in many aspects of complex thought and behavior. Here, we leverage postmortem histology and in vivo neuroimaging to characterize the anatomy of the DMN to better understand its role in information processing and cortical communication. Our results show that the DMN is cytoarchitecturally heterogenous, containing cytoarchitectural types that are variably specialized for unimodal, heteromodal and memory-related processing. Studying diffusion-based structural connectivity in combination with cytoarchitecture, we found the DMN contains regions receptive to input from sensory cortex and a core that is relatively insulated from environmental input. Finally, analysis of signal flow with effective connectivity models showed that the DMN is unique amongst cortical networks in balancing its output across the levels of sensory hierarchies. Together, our study establishes an anatomical foundation from which accounts of the broad role the DMN plays in human brain function and cognition can be developed.