Low-frequency modulations bridge the language and default mode networks.
Oscar Woolnough, Elliot Murphy, Stanislas Dehaene, Nitin Tandon
Progress in Neurobiology July 24, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2026.102944 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study with intracranial EEG recordings Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 32 |
| Population | Participants with intracranial electrodes who read sentences and wordlists |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Aperiodic Language Reading Semantics |
| Key findings | Reading sentences, compared with wordlists, elicited a ramping increase in instantaneous alpha-band frequency and connectivity within and between the language and default mode networks, suggesting these modulations index dynamic interactions crucial for semantic integration. |
Abstract
As you read this sentence, you integrate meanings of individual words into complex, higher-order representations. In addition to the core language network (LN), this dynamic process recruits other domain-general networks such as the default mode network (DMN), with which it partially overlaps anatomically but segregates from functionally. To evaluate interactions between LN and DMN, we extracted instantaneous frequency, power, and phase (4-30 Hz) from intracranial electrodes in 32 participants who read sentences and wordlists. We isolated a complex low-frequency modulation, most reliably measured as a ramping of instantaneous frequency in the alpha band throughout sentences, greater than wordlists, occurring robustly across both the LN and DMN. Granger causal networks demonstrate this coincided with ramping increases in alpha-band connectivity between and within DMN and LN. We suggest that alpha-band modulations index dynamic interactions between core LN and broader domain-general networks and may be crucial for higher order semantic integration and the derivation of crossmodal knowledge from the language domain.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |