The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective
Jonathan Smallwood and five colleagues review the default mode network as a set of widely distributed regions in parietal, temporal and frontal cortex. These regions often show reductions in activity during attention-demanding tasks but increase their activity across many forms of complex cognition, many of them linked to memory or abstract thought. Within the cortex the network lies furthest from the regions serving sensory and motor systems. The authors consider how knowledge of the network's topography can be used to understand its contribution to cognition and behaviour. This page cites the review for the broader pattern of activity that the word default leaves out.
Jonathan Smallwood and five colleagues review the default mode network as a set of widely distributed regions in parietal, temporal and frontal cortex. These regions often show reductions in activity during attention-demanding tasks but increase their activity across many forms of complex cognition, many of them linked to memory or abstract thought. Within the cortex the network lies furthest from the regions serving sensory and motor systems. The authors consider how knowledge of the network's topography can be used to understand its contribution to cognition and behaviour. This page cites the review for the broader pattern of activity that the word default leaves out.
Written from the abstract on Crossref, read 2026-10-23.
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Smallwood, J., Bernhardt, B. C., Leech, R., Bzdok, D., Jefferies, E., & Margulies, D. S. (2021). The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 22, 503-513. doi:10.1038/s41583-021-00474-4