Default Mode Network Functional Connectivity As a Transdiagnostic Biomarker of Cognitive Function.
Vaibhav Tripathi, Ishaan Batta, Andre Zamani, Daniel A Atad, Sneha K S Sheth, Jiahe Zhang, Tor D Wager, Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, Lucina Q Uddin, Ruchika S Prakash, Clemens C C Bauer
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging April 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.12.016 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe default mode network (DMN) is linked to self-referential thinking, memory, and goal-directed cognition. Its functional connectivity with frontoparietal networks involved in attention and executive control may indicate cognitive health. This review examines DMN connectivity metrics as potential biomarkers across states like attention, mind wandering, and meditation, and in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, and ADHD. It also addresses the reliability of network estimation and offers recommendations for using functional connectivity measures as biomarkers of cognitive health.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Attention Brain networks Functional connectivity Mental health |
| Citations | 23 |
| Key finding | DMN connectivity metrics show promise as biomarkers of cognitive state and trait-level deviations in aging and clinical conditions, but reliability concerns remain. |
Abstract
The default mode network (DMN) is intricately linked with processes such as self-referential thinking, episodic memory recall, goal-directed cognition, self-projection, and theory of mind. In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of studies examining its functional connectivity, particularly its relationship with frontoparietal networks involved in top-down attention, executive function, and cognitive control. The fluidity in switching between these internal and external modes of processing, which is highlighted by anticorrelated functional connectivity, has been proposed as an indicator of cognitive health. Due to the ease of estimation of functional connectivity-based measures through resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigms, there is now a wealth of large-scale datasets, paving the way for standardized connectivity benchmarks. In this review, we explore the promising role of DMN connectivity metrics as potential biomarkers of cognitive state across attention, internal mentation, mind wandering, and meditation states and investigate deviations in trait-level measures across aging and in clinical conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and others. We also tackle the issue of reliability of network estimation and functional connectivity and share recommendations for using functional connectivity measures as a biomarker of cognitive health.