The brain's default mode network (DMN) has attracted tremendous attention, but its topology still lacks a substantial and operative definition. At the same time, recent efforts based on coactivation analysis suggest significant involvement of concomitant activation as an origin of synchronous activity, which is the basis of the network detection. Therefore, to establish the biological significance of the intrinsic remote connectivity, understanding such co-occurrence networks may be crucial. This study shows the results of monitoring the network's signal variation during random transitions among two divergent tasks and rest epochs. The subset of the DMN nodes showed three distinct activity levels; it was simultaneously characterized by the lack of a transition response between blocks. Additional connectivity analysis revealed components covering the other DMN nodes showing overshooting in response to a transition that were still connected to the posterior cingulate cortices (PCC), but by different signal components. The overall finding of multiple connectivity modes in the DMN provides a relevant explanation about the two seemingly contradictory characteristics of the network, robustness and variation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abou-ElseoudA, StarckT, RemesJ, NikkinenJ, TervonenO, KiviniemiV. 2010. The effect of model order selection in group PICA. Hum Brain Mapp, 31:1207–1216.
2.
AllmanJM, HakeemA, ErwinJM, NimchinskyE, HofP. 2001. The anterior cingulate cortex. The evolution of an interface between emotion and cognition. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 935:107–117.
3.
AsoT, FukuyamaH. Overlapping but distinct default network functions revealed by independent component analysis. In: IEEE International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering, Kobe, Japan; July 1–4, 2012, pp. 370–375.
4.
BirnRM. 2012. The role of physiological noise in resting-state functional connectivity. Neuroimage, 62:864–870.
5.
BiswalB, YetkinFZ, HaughtonVM, HydeJS. 1995. Functional connectivity in the motor cortex of resting human brain using echo-planar MRI. Magn Reson Med, 34:537–541.
6.
BlakemoreSJ. 2008. The social brain in adolescence. Nat Rev Neurosci, 9:267–277.
7.
BluhmRL, ClarkCR, McFarlaneAC, MooresKA, ShawME, LaniusRA. 2011. Default network connectivity during a working memory task. Hum Brain Mapp, 32:1029–1035.
8.
BolyM, BalteauE, SchnakersC, DegueldreC, MoonenG, LuxenA, et al.2007. Baseline brain activity fluctuations predict somatosensory perception in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 104:12187–12192.
9.
BucknerRL, Andrews-HannaJR, SchacterDL. 2008. The brain's default network: anatomy, function, and relevance to disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1124:1–38.
10.
CalhounVD, AdaliT, PearlsonGD, PekarJJ. 2001. A method for making group inferences from functional MRI data using independent component analysis. Hum Brain Mapp, 14:140–151.
11.
CalhounVD, LiuJ, AdaliT. 2009. A review of group ICA for fMRI data and ICA for joint inference of imaging, genetic, and ERP data. Neuroimage, 45:S163–S172.
12.
CavannaAE, TrimbleMR. 2006. The precuneus: a review of its functional anatomy and behavioural correlates. Brain, 129:564–583.
13.
ColeDM, SmithSM, BeckmannCF. 2010. Advances and pitfalls in the analysis and interpretation of resting-state FMRI data. Front Syst Neurosci, 4:8.
14.
CrossleyNA, MechelliA, VertesPE, Winton-BrownTT, PatelAX, GinestetCE, et al.2013. Cognitive relevance of the community structure of the human brain functional coactivation network. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 110:11583–11588.
15.
DagliMS, IngeholmJE, HaxbyJV. 1999. Localization of cardiac-induced signal change in fMRI. Neuroimage, 9:407–415.
16.
FletcherPC, HappeF, FrithU, BakerSC, DolanRJ, FrackowiakRS, et al.1995. Other minds in the brain: a functional imaging study of “theory of mind” in story comprehension. Cognition, 57:109–128.
FoxMD, SnyderAZ, VincentJL, CorbettaM, Van EssenDC, RaichleME. 2005b. The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 102:9673–9678.
19.
FranssonP. 2005. Spontaneous low-frequency BOLD signal fluctuations: an fMRI investigation of the resting-state default mode of brain function hypothesis. Hum Brain Mapp, 26:15–29.
20.
FristonKJ, HolmesA, PolineJB, PriceCJ, FrithCD. 1996. Detecting activations in PET and fMRI: levels of inference and power. Neuroimage, 4:223–235.
GiliT, SaxenaN, DiukovaA, MurphyK, HallJE, WiseRG. 2013. The thalamus and brainstem act as key hubs in alterations of human brain network connectivity induced by mild propofol sedation. J Neurosci, 33:4024–4031.
23.
GreiciusMD, MenonV. 2004. Default-mode activity during a passive sensory task: uncoupled from deactivation but impacting activation. J Cogn Neurosci, 16:1484–1492.
24.
HawellekDJ, HippJF, LewisCM, CorbettaM, EngelAK. 2011. Increased functional connectivity indicates the severity of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 108:19066–19071.
25.
HimbergJ, HyvarinenA, EspositoF. 2004. Validating the independent components of neuroimaging time series via clustering and visualization. Neuroimage, 22:1214–1222.
26.
HuttonC, BorkA, JosephsO, DeichmannR, AshburnerJ, TurnerR. 2002. Image distortion correction in fMRI: a quantitative evaluation. Neuroimage, 16:217–240.
27.
JafriMJ. 2008. A method for functional network connectivity among spatially independent resting-state components in schizophrenia. Neuroimage, 39:1666.
28.
JannK, KottlowM, DierksT, BoeschC, KoenigT. 2010. Topographic electrophysiological signatures of FMRI Resting State Networks. PLoS One, 5:e12945.
LiYO, AdaliT, CalhounVD. 2007. Estimating the number of independent components for functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Hum Brain Mapp, 28:1251–1266.
31.
MarguliesDS, KellyAM, UddinLQ, BiswalBB, CastellanosFX, MilhamMP. 2007. Mapping the functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex. Neuroimage, 37:579–588.
32.
MarguliesDS, VincentJL, KellyC, LohmannG, UddinLQ, BiswalBB, et al.2009. Precuneus shares intrinsic functional architecture in humans and monkeys. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 106:20069–20074.
33.
MasonMF, NortonMI, Van HornJD, WegnerDM, GraftonST, MacraeCN. 2007. Wandering minds: the default network and stimulus-independent thought. Science, 315:393–395.
34.
MedaSA, StevensMC, FolleyBS, CalhounVD, PearlsonGD. 2009. Evidence for anomalous network connectivity during working memory encoding in schizophrenia: an ICA based analysis. PLoS One, 4:e7911.
35.
MishkinM, UngerleiderLG. 1982. Contribution of striate inputs to the visuospatial functions of parieto-preoccipital cortex in monkeys. Behav Brain Res, 6:57–77.
NorthoffG, PankseppJ. 2008. The trans-species concept of self and the subcortical-cortical midline system. Trends Cogn Sci, 12:259–264.
38.
ObataT, LiuTT, MillerKL, LuhW-M, WongEC, FrankLR, et al.2004. Discrepancies between BOLD and flow dynamics in primary and supplementary motor areas: application of the balloon model to the interpretation of BOLD transients. Neuroimage, 21:144–153.
39.
PeltierSJ, NollDC. 2002. T(2)(*) dependence of low frequency functional connectivity. Neuroimage, 16:985–992.
40.
PolliFE, BartonJJ, CainMS, ThakkarKN, RauchSL, ManoachDS. 2005. Rostral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex make dissociable contributions during antisaccade error commission. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 102:15700–15705.
41.
RaichleME, MacLeodAM, SnyderAZ, PowersWJ, GusnardDA, ShulmanGL. 2001. A default mode of brain function. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 98:676–682.
42.
SchoolerJW, SmallwoodJ, ChristoffK, HandyTC, ReichleED, SayetteMA. 2011. Meta-awareness, perceptual decoupling and the wandering mind. Trends Cognit Sci, 15:319–326.
43.
SeeleyWW, MenonV, SchatzbergAF, KellerJ, GloverGH, KennaH, et al.2007. Dissociable intrinsic connectivity networks for salience processing and executive control. J Neurosci, 27:2349–2356.
44.
ShehzadZ, KellyAM, ReissPT, GeeDG, GotimerK, UddinLQ, et al.2009. The resting brain: unconstrained yet reliable. Cereb Cortex, 19:2209–2229.
45.
ShulmanG, FiezJ, CorbettaM, BucknerR, MiezinF, RaichleM, et al.1997. Common blood flow changes across visual tasks: II. Decreases in cerebral cortex. J Cogn Neurosci, 9:648–663.
46.
SinghKD, FawcettIP. 2008. Transient and linearly graded deactivation of the human default-mode network by a visual detection task. Neuroimage, 41:100–112.
47.
SmithSM, MillerKL, MoellerS, XuJ, AuerbachEJ, WoolrichMW, et al.2012. Temporally-independent functional modes of spontaneous brain activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109:3131–3136.
48.
Tzourio-MazoyerN, LandeauB, PapathanassiouD, CrivelloF, EtardO, DelcroixN, et al.2002. Automated anatomical labeling of activations in SPM using a macroscopic anatomical parcellation of the MNI MRI single-subject brain. Neuroimage, 15:273–289.
49.
UtevskyAV, SmithDV, HuettelSA. 2014. Precuneus is a functional core of the default-mode network. J Neurosci, 34:932–940.
50.
VincentJL, PatelGH, FoxMD, SnyderAZ, BakerJT, Van EssenDC, et al.2007. Intrinsic functional architecture in the anaesthetized monkey brain. Nature, 447:83–86.
51.
WiseRG, IdeK, PoulinMJ, TraceyI. 2004. Resting fluctuations in arterial carbon dioxide induce significant low frequency variations in BOLD signal. Neuroimage, 21:1652–1664.
52.
WuCW, GuH, ZouQ, LuH, SteinEA, YangY. 2012. TE-dependent spatial and spectral specificity of functional connectivity. Neuroimage, 59:3075–3084.
53.
XuJ, KemenyS, ParkG, FrattaliC, BraunA. 2005. Language in context: emergent features of word, sentence, and narrative comprehension. Neuroimage, 25:1002–1015.
54.
ZhangS, LiCS. 2012. Functional networks for cognitive control in a stop signal task: independent component analysis. Hum Brain Mapp, 33:89–104.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
