Network Neuroscience
December 23, 2022
Gustavo Deco, Yonatan Sanz Perl, Laura de la Fuente et al.
43 citations
The default mode network (DMN) may coordinate the recruitment and scheduling of brain networks for solving cognitive tasks, supported by evidence that DMN regions are physically and functionally distant from sensorimotor areas. Using a thermodynamics-inspired, deep learning-based Temporal Evolution NETwork (TENET) framework to measure the 'arrow of time'—a marker of nonreversibility and hierarchy in brain signals—analysis of Human Connectome Project data from nearly a thousand participants suggests the DMN orchestrates hierarchy levels that shift between rest and seven cognitive tasks. This hierarchy differs significantly in health versus neuropsychiatric disorders, offering insights into brain dynamics for cognition.
Network Neuroscience
January 1, 2022
Josephine Cruzat, Yonatan Sanz Perl, Anira Escrichs et al.
28 citations
Psychedelic drugs like LSD and psilocybin may treat neuropsychiatric disorders by dose-dependently altering the brain's functional hierarchy—the organization of neural activity across regions. Using a turbulence framework that measures local synchronization (vorticity) in both space and time, researchers found that both drugs produce consistent and distinct effects, particularly compressing the default mode network, a higher-level network. These findings support the hypothesis that psychedelics modulate the functional hierarchy and provide a quantitative comparison of how LSD and psilocybin change brain dynamics, with implications for therapeutic use.
Network Neuroscience
November 1, 2023
Juan Carlos Farah, Pablo Mallaroni, Enrico Amico et al.
21 citations
Functional connectomes become more idiosyncratic under psilocybin, with greater dissimilarity between individuals than under placebo. While idiosyncratic features in placebo subjects appear mainly in the frontoparietal network, under psilocybin they concentrate in the default mode network (DMN). A DMN-focused pattern predicts subjective psilocybin experience, marked by reduced within-DMN and DMN-limbic connectivity and increased connectivity between the DMN and attentional systems. These findings link psilocybin's brain effects to subjective experience and demonstrate the value of brain-fingerprinting in pharmacological neuroimaging.
Network Neuroscience
March 13, 2026
Yanli Lin, Marne White, Jihong Zhang et al.
1 citation
Alpha and theta brain rhythms have been linked to mindfulness, but connecting brain activity to subjective experience is difficult. This study used network analysis on data from 16 novices who completed up to 24 sessions of focused attention and open monitoring meditation, with EEG and self-reported mindfulness collected. Distinct network structures emerged for each practice, supporting their theoretical differences. Shared features included strong autoregressive effects for mindfulness—consistent with skill learning—and opposing influences of frontal versus posterior alpha power. The results challenge simple interpretations of meditation-related EEG, suggesting the functional meaning of neural activity depends on the specific practice and training stage.