A cascade of attentional and default mode network dynamics following the resolution of perceptual ambiguity
Adam P.D. Ponzi, Katsunori Miyahara, Keisuke Suzuki
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) October 1, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.64898/2026.09.26.754627 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational fMRI study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 6 |
| Population | Human participants viewing a bistable kinetic depth effect stimulus |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | Spontaneous perceptual reversals, compared with replayed physical switches, were accompanied by differential activity in a distributed occipital-parietal-frontal network. After the perceptual report, dorsal attention and visual network contrasts peaked around 4 seconds alongside a negative default mode network contrast, with a weaker ventral attention-frontoparietal component near 10 seconds. The authors suggest that interplay between attentional control and default mode networks accompanies the resolution of perceptual ambiguity. |
Abstract
The neural mechanisms underlying spontaneous perceptual switches during bistable perception, particularly the dynamic interplay between large-scale brain networks, remain incompletely understood. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in six participants and a bistable kinetic depth effect (KDE) stimulus, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of brain activity associated with spontaneous perceptual reversals compared to physically induced (replayed) switches. Leveraging a fine-grained functional brain parcellation (MD758) and time-resolved analysis including noise correlations, we identified a distributed network encompassing occipital (MT/MST, LOC), parietal (IPS), and frontal (FEF, IFC, DLPFC) regions showing differential activity during spontaneous versus replayed switches. This network topography qualitatively overlapped a prior review-derived synthesis of perceptual-switching regions. Temporal decomposition of the differential fMRI signal further revealed a characteristic network cascade after the perceptual report: positive dorsal attention (DAN) and visual (VIS) network contrasts peaked approximately 4 s after the report alongside a negative default mode network (DMN) contrast; a slower, more modest ventral attention (VAN)-frontoparietal (FPN) component was observed around 10 s post-report but was weak and is treated as preliminary. The early 4 s profile was recovered across raw-signal, PCA-denoised, and noise-correlation analyses (three related, not fully independent analyses), with the noise-correlation analysis indicating that it is not fully attributable to shared motor-report signals. These findings delineate the temporal sequence of network recruitment following spontaneous perceptual transitions and suggest that interplay between attentional control and default mode networks accompanies the resolution of perceptual ambiguity.
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 |