Everything about Default mode network
Large-scale brain network active when not focusing on an external task
In neuroscience, the default mode network (DMN), also known as the default network, default state network, or anatomically the medial frontoparietal network (M-FPN), is a large-scale brain network primarily composed of the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus and angular gyrus. It is best known for being active when a person is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering. It can also be active during detailed thoughts related to external task performance. Other times that the DMN is active include when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future. The DMN creates a coherent "internal narrative" central to the construction of a sense of self. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Default mode networkA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesisInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: The web application hacker's handbookThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Functional connectivity in the resting brain: A network analysis of the default mode hypothesisCited 5,723 times
- Go sideways: Posterior cingulate cortexA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Resting state fMRIA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A network of brain regions that are active when the individual is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Functional connectivity in the resting brain: A network analysis of the default mode hypothesis
The Brain's Default Mode Network
Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity in Psychopathology
Rat brains also have a default mode network
Persistent default‐mode network connectivity during light sedation
Brain default-mode network dysfunction in addiction
Dysmaturation of the default mode network in autism
Increased default mode network connectivity associated with meditation
🆕 Influential since 2022
20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis
Default Mode Network Modulation by Psychedelics: A Systematic Review
An evolutionary gap in primate default mode network organization
Early detection of dementia with default-mode network effective connectivity
How does the “default mode” network contribute to semantic cognition?
📚 Books worth reading
The web application hacker's handbookDafydd Stuttard, Marcus Pinto · 2007
Eloquent JavascriptMarijn Haverbeke · 2009
Hands-on networking with Internet technologiesDouglas E. Comer, Douglas E Comer · 2002
The two halves of the brainKenneth Hugdahl · 2010
Linux Server SecurityChris Binnie · 2016
The Neurodiversity BookRonnie Cane · 2025
Windows 7 AnnoyancesDavid A. Karp · 2010
Default Mode Network Dmn: Structural Connectivity, Impairments and Role in Daily Activities (Neuroscience Research Progress)Dennis Ramirez · 2015
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
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- Dynamic functional connectivity Dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) refers to the observed phenomenon that functional connectivity changes over a short time. Dynamic functional connectivity…
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- Large-scale brain network Large-scale brain networks (also known as intrinsic brain networks) are collections of widespread brain regions showing functional connectivity by statistical…