Self-Processing and the Default Mode Network: Interactions with the Mirror Neuron System
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 1, 2013 Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, Lucina Q. Uddin 221 citations
The default mode network (DMN) is not a single, uniform system but contains functionally distinct subdivisions with unique connectivity patterns. Recent advances in resting-state functional connectivity reveal complex organization within key DMN nodes—medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex—and between these nodes and other brain systems. This review examines how DMN subdivisions relate to self-referential and social-cognitive processing. The authors propose that embodied simulation and mentalizing work together to provide coherent representations of self and others: embodiment engages the same neural systems for self- and other-understanding through simulation, while mentalizing uses high-level conceptual information to infer mental states. DMN nodes selectively interact with brain systems for embodiment and mentalizing, including the mirror neuron system, to support social-cognitive demands.