On the relationship between the “default mode network” and the “social brain”

By Rogier B. Mars, Franz-Xaver Neubert, MaryAnn P. Noonan, Jérôme Sallet, Ivan Toni, Matthew F. S. Rushworth. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2012

753 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The default mode network (DMN) of the brain consists of areas that are typically more active during rest than during active task performance. Recently however, this network has been shown to be activated by certain types of tasks. Social cognition, particularly higher-order tasks such as attributing mental states to others, has been suggested to activate a network of areas at least partly overlapping with the DMN. Here, we explore this claim, drawing on evidence from meta-analyses of functional MRI data and recent studies investigating the structural and functional connectivity of the social brain. In addition, we discuss recent evidence for the existence of a DMN in non-human primates. We conclude by discussing some of the implications of these observations.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a000c6819d188d87979f3d2d2b0448de092000d6

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Citations in the corpus

Sex differences in the adult human brain: Evidence from 5,216 UK Biobank participants (2017, background): “The higher female connectivity within circuits like the DMN may be particularly important, given that DMN regions are often considered as an important part of the “social brain” (Kennedy and Adolphs 2012; Mars et al. 2012; Amft et al. 2015).”
Switching between internal and external modes: A multiscale learning principle (2017, neutral): “…that demands understanding of semantics (Binder et al., 1999), constructing scenarios (Hassabis & Maguire, 2007), comprehension of narratives or the viewpoint of others (Mars et al., 2012; Simony et al., 2016), or imagining the past and future (Buckner & Carroll, 2007; Spreng, Mar, & Kim, 2009).”
Are there specialized circuits for social cognition and are they unique to humans? (2013, neutral): “Data redrawn from [14,17 ,23] with permission.”
Informatic parcellation of the network involved in the computation of subjective value. (2014, background): “An intriguing hypothesis is that different value computations require different levels of episodic memory and mental simulations and are thus likely to recruit regions associated with the default mode network (Pearson et al., 2011; Mars et al., 2012).”
The mind behind anthropomorphic thinking: attribution of mental states to other species (2015, background): “…in the brain consists of a series of interconnected areas including the superior temporal sulcus, lateral fusiform gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, insula and amygdala, and shows activity overlap with the so-called default mode network (DMN; Goodson, 2005; Mars et al., 2012).”
The social brain in psychiatric and neurological disorders (2012, neutral): “A recent focus of social neuroscience has been on dissecting the default-mode network into subcomponents [31,115], in part because the individual components overlap with those assigned to the ‘social brain’ and in part because abnormal default-mode networks have been implicated in many psychiatric a”
COGNITIVE DEFICITS AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES IN MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: DETERMINANTS, SUBSTRATES, AND TREATMENT INTERVENTIONS (2013, background): “[61] The DMN is usually more active during the “resting state” than it is during a cognitive, emotional, and/or motor task.[62] Abnormalities in the DMN have been implicated in pathological disease states of which cognitive deficits are a defining feature (e.”
Contributions of episodic retrieval and mentalizing to autobiographical thought: evidence from functional neuroimaging, resting-state connectivity, and fMRI meta-analyses (2014, background): “…of these relationships is the DN’s involvement in autobiographical memory and autobiographical future thought (Gilboa et al., 2004; Svoboda et al., 2006; Cabeza and St. Jacques, 2007; Schacter et al., 2007; Spreng et al., 2009; McDermott et al., 2009; Szpunar 2012; Schacter et al., 2012).”
Connectivity profiles reveal the relationship between brain areas for social cognition in human and monkey temporoparietal cortex (2013, background): “We have recently demonstrated the cortical network in which mentalizing areas in the human superior temporal cortex, including the TPJ but also a more anterior superior temporal cortex region (STSa), participate (22, 23).”
Theory of Mind and Preference Learning at the Interface of Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and AI: A Review (2022, background): “Interestingly, there is a large overlap between the regions identiﬁed for the social brain and the Default Mode Network (DMN; Mars et al., 2012).”