Default mode network gates the retrieval of task-irrelevant incidental memories.
Kristiina Kompus
Neuroscience Letters October 23, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2010.10.047 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Functional magnetic resonance imaging study (secondary analysis) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy young adults |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Neural pathways Humans Magnetic resonance imaging Brain mapping Mental recall Young adult |
| Key points | Failure to incidentally retrieve a memory was selectively associated with reduced activation in lateral and medial parietal regions and ventromedial frontal cortex, areas of the default mode network. The authors argue that relative deactivation of these default mode network regions gates consciousness from currently irrelevant memories, and describe this as the first demonstration of such a mechanism. |
Abstract
Episodic memories can be retrieved by an intentional search for certain information. Alternatively, a past episode may enter our consciousness without any intention to retrieve it, prompted by a stimulus in our surroundings. Incidental retrieval does not occur upon each encounter with a familiar stimulus, suggesting that a gating mechanism exists which regulates incidental retrieval activity. We analyzed data from a functional magnetic resonance imaging study on incidental retrieval in healthy young adults and found that failure to incidentally retrieve was selectively associated with reduced activation of lateral and medial parietal regions as well as ventromedial frontal cortex, areas implicated in default mode network. This is the first demonstration that relative deactivation of the brain regions associated with the default mode gates the consciousness from currently irrelevant memories.
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 |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- 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
- Dopamine Transporters in Striatum Correlate with Deactivation in the Default Mode Network during Visuospatial Attention PLoS One June 30, 2009
- Interrupting the "stream of consciousness": an fMRI investigation. Neuroimage February 15, 2006