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The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 22, pages 503–513 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

The default mode network (DMN) is a set of widely distributed brain regions in the parietal, temporal and frontal cortex. These regions often show reductions in activity during attention-demanding tasks but increase their activity across multiple forms of complex cognition, many of which are linked to memory or abstract thought. Within the cortex, the DMN has been shown to be located in regions furthest away from those contributing to sensory and motor systems. Here, we consider how our knowledge of the topographic characteristics of the DMN can be leveraged to better understand how this network contributes to cognition and behaviour.

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Fig. 1: Mapping the DMN.
Fig. 2: DMN activity is sensitive to the temporal structure of cognition during a task.
Fig. 3: Topographic properties of the DMN.

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Data availability

The spatial map data that support the findings of Fig. 1b are available in The Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/nz8gf/). The brain masks used to obtain the data used in Supplementary Fig. 1 are available in Neurovault (https://identifiers.org/neurovault.collection:8569). The source data for Supplementary Fig. 1 are included in Supplementary Data.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank N. Ho for help in the preparation of Supplementary Fig. 1 and R. Braga, L. Lanzoni and D. Vatansever for providing data for use in preparing the figures. The work in this Perspective was supported by consolidator grants from the European Research Council (ERC) (Award 646-927 WANDERINGMINDS to J.S., Award 866533-CORTIGRAD to D.S.M. and Award 771863-FLEXSEM to E.J.). D.B. was supported by the Canada Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Artificial Intelligence Chairs programme, Google and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01AG068563A. R.L. was supported by Wellcome/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Medical Engineering (Ref: WT 203148/Z/16/). B.B. received support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (Discovery-1304413), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR FDN-154298, PJT-174995), SickKids Foundation (NI17-039), BrainCanada (Azrieli Future Leaders) and the Tier-2 Canada Research Chairs programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    Jonathan Smallwood

  2. McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Boris C. Bernhardt & Danilo Bzdok

  3. Centre for Neuroimaging Science, Kings College London, London, UK

    Robert Leech

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Danilo Bzdok

  5. Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Danilo Bzdok

  6. Mila — Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Danilo Bzdok

  7. Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK

    Elizabeth Jefferies

  8. Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center (UMR 8002), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Paris, Paris, France

    Daniel S. Margulies

  9. Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Daniel S. Margulies

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  1. Jonathan Smallwood
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Human Connectome Project: http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org/

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Smallwood, J., Bernhardt, B.C., Leech, R. et al. The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective. Nat Rev Neurosci 22, 503–513 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-021-00474-4

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