On the relationship between the “default mode network” and the “social brain”
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 1, 2012 Rogier B. Mars, Franz-Xaver Neubert, MaryAnn P. Noonan et al. 807 citations
The brain's default mode network (DMN), typically more active during rest than tasks, is also engaged by certain tasks, particularly social cognition like attributing mental states to others. Evidence from meta-analyses of functional MRI and studies of structural and functional connectivity in the social brain supports a partial overlap between DMN and social brain networks. A DMN also exists in non-human primates. These findings have implications for understanding brain organization and social processing.