Default Mode Network Remodels Frontoparietal Network in Self-Referential Task

I’m honored to be presenting this poster at the 2020 annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. This post is the landing site of the QR code I’m including on the poster, so interested parties can check out some additional background on the poster and read the abstract. Now that the meeting is over, here is a downloadable copy of the poster pdf:

ACNP2020.pdf

Download PDF • 6.54MB

If you were at ACNP or just extremely curious, these were my poster zoom session details:

Session: Poster Session II

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Time: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM US-Central (UTC-5) [4:30pm-6pm NYC local time]

Poster Title: Default Mode Network Remodels Frontoparietal Network in Self-Referential Task

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Default mode network (DMN) is a large-scale brain system originally characterized by neural deactivation during goal-directed tasks and relative activations in “task-negative,” or resting states. Recent works challenge this antagonistic framing, showing that internally directed cognitive tasks can produce greater DMN activation than at rest. This DMN activity is associated with task-linked coupling between DMN and the frontoparietal control network (FPCN), a brain system implicated in guiding goal-oriented cognition. Additional work suggests FPCN has subsystems specializing in externally vs. internally directed tasks, the latter being relatively under-studied. We added to this effort to map internally directed cognition through network analysis of an exemplar internally directed task.

METHODS: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 27 healthy subjects, we examined DMN and FPCN within- and between-network connectivity in the context of an internally cued self-referential task compared to an externally cued control counting task.

RESULTS: Self-referential thoughts increased within-network connectivity in DMN (F=3.7, p<0.04) while disrupting it in FPCN (F= 23.2, p<8x10-8). This disruption was associated with a subset of FPCN coupling with DMN. Data-driven characterization of the FPCN subcomponent revealed pronounced left lateralization (p<.002, z=37.3).

CONCLUSIONS: Self-referential cognition increased connectivity within DMN and between DMN and left-lateralized cognitive control regions in FPCN. This task-dependent network coordination may inform the future study of neuropsychiatric conditions where altered DMN or FPCN connectivity has been implicated, including autism, depression, migraine, and psychosis.

References for the poster

Raichle et al. A default mode of brain function. PNAS, 2001.

Spreng & Grady. Patterns of brain activity supporting autobiographical memory, prospection, and theory of mind, and their relationship to the default mode network. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2010.

Dixon et al. Heterogeneity within the frontoparietal control network and its relationship to the default and dorsal attention networks. PNAS, 2018.

Network parcellation from Shirer et al. Decoding subject-driven cognitive states with whole-brain connectivity patterns. Cerebral Cortex, 2012.