Default mode network
“As outlined above, metacognition, and specifically the ability to reflect upon one’s own introspection, is a particularly advanced behavior associated with the DMN (Fleming2010)
Summary
The default mode network (DMN) Raichle2001 is one of seven canonical resting state networks active during idle-ing and mind-wandering. It has particularly high metabolic activity relative to the rest of the brain (via the PCC) and is known to be involved in self-referencing and other high-level cognitive functions, such as the self and ego Gusnard2001 Carhart-Harris2008 Carhart-Harris2010.
Thought to have an important role in consciousness Raichle1998
Hosts highest number of cortico-cortical connections in the brain, making it an important connector hub, which may be critical for efficient information transfer by enabling communication between different regions in the brain via the fewest number of connections. Carhart-Harris2012 Hagmann2008 Bullmore2009
- Results from Psychedelic neuroimaging studies lay the foundations for a claim that the DMN is crucial for the maintenance of cognitive integration & constraint under normal conditions. These findings are consistent with the reducing valve theory of consciousness and Free energy principle Friston2010.
- The DMN is involved in self-reflection & introspection (Qin2011).
- DMN is anticorrelated with task-focused attention