Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
August 27, 2018
Mladen Sormaz, Charlotte Murphy, Hao-ting Wang et al.
291 citations
The default mode network (DMN), a set of brain regions traditionally linked to off-task or mind-wandering states, actually contributes to detailed, task-relevant cognition during active tasks. Using fMRI, participants performed working-memory tasks while reporting their thoughts. Patterns of neural activity showed that distinctions between on- and off-task thought involved regions near sensory and motor cortex, not the DMN. However, the level of detail in ongoing thought corresponded to activity patterns within the DMN during memory maintenance. These findings indicate the DMN supports detailed cognition under active task conditions, challenging the view that it is solely task-negative.
NeuroImage
January 12, 2018
Charlotte Murphy, Elizabeth Jefferies, Shirley-Ann Rueschemeyer et al.
288 citations
The default mode network supports cognition independent of immediate environment and higher-order conceptual representations. A novel paradigm manipulated perceptual information availability and representational complexity during decision-making. Brain regions including left and right angular gyri and left middle temporal gyrus responded when cognition combined stimulus independence with multi-modal information. These default mode network sites showed stronger response to demanding memory judgments than easier perceptual tasks, contradicting the view they support automatic cognition. These regions were at the extreme end of a macroscale gradient from sensorimotor to transmodal cortex, suggesting functional distance from sensory input enables conceptually rich cognitive states in absence of input.
iScience
February 2, 2021
Jonathan Smallwood, Adam Turnbull, Hao-ting Wang et al.
130 citations
The landscape of ongoing thought is heterogeneous and shaped by both personal traits and environmental context. Recent work shows that attention and control systems organize experience in response to changing demands, while the default mode network contributes not only to task-negative or episodic content but also to the vividness of experience in both task contexts and spontaneous self-generated states. Multiple neural systems reflect the landscape of ongoing thought, and it is important to distinguish processes that shape how experience unfolds from those that regulate it.