Intrinsic Neural Linkage between Primary Visual Area and Default Mode Network in Human Brain: Evidence from Visual Mental Imagery.
Zheng Zhang, Delong Zhang, Zengjian Wang, Junchao Li, Yuting Lin, Song Chang, Ruiwang Huang, Ming Liu
Neuroscience March 8, 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.02.033 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational fMRI study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Healthy adults (15 males; mean age 22.37 ± 2.52 years) |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Neural pathways Humans Magnetic resonance imaging Brain mapping Imagination Visual perception Rest Female Young adult Primary visual cortex Mental imagery |
| Key findings | The authors report that PVA and DMN activity show a steady, tight intrinsic association at rest, with the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe consistently involved, and that this association pattern was reproducible during a mental rotation task, which they present as evidence for the robustness and stability of the PVA-DMN association map. |
Abstract
Previous studies have reported the essence of the sensory-based properties of human brain function, in which mental imagery is of great importance. In this study, we explored the association between the activities of two special regions, i.e., the primary visual area (PVA), which is the classically dominant sensory region, and the default mode network (DMN), which is the classical supra-sensory region, with a focus on their linkage in visual mental imagery. For this purpose, we collected fMRI data from 30 healthy participants (15 males; 22.37 ± 2.52 years) during the resting state and a mental rotation task state. By using a critical time point analysis (CTPA), we investigated the association between the activities of the PVA and the DMN. As the results showed, there existed a PVA-related (i.e., prefrontal cortex, DMN, sensorimotor areas and medial temporal lobe (MTL)) and a DMN-related neural association pattern (i.e., PVA, prefrontal cortex and the MTL) in the human brain. Furthermore, the results showed the steady and tight intrinsic association between the activities of the PVA and the DMN, with the prefrontal cortex and the MTL regions being found to be consistently involved in the resting-state brain. It also was suggested that the observed association between the PVA and the DMN was highly reproducible for the mental rotation task. Together, these observations, from the perspective of visual mental imagery, provided experimental evidence for the robustness and stability of the detailed map of the associations between the activities of the PVA and the DMN.
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 |