Dataset Information

The default network and processing of personally relevant information: converging evidence from task-related modulations and functional connectivity.

ABSTRACT: Despite a growing interest in the default network (DN), its composition and function are not fully known. Here we examined whether the DN, as a whole, is specifically active during a task involving judgments about the self, or whether this engagement extends to judgments about a close other. We also aimed to provide converging evidence of DN involvement from across-task functional connectivity, and resting-state functional connectivity analyses, to provide a more comprehensive delineation of this network. Using functional MRI we measured brain activity in young adults during tasks and rest, and utilized a multivariate method to assess task-related changes as well as functional connectivity. An overlapping set of regions showed increased activity for judgments about the self, and about a close other, and strong functional connectivity with the posterior cingulate, a critical node of the DN. These areas included ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and medial temporal regions, all thought to be part of the DN. Several additional regions, such as the left inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral caudate, also showed the same pattern of activity and connectivity. These results provide evidence that the default network, as an integrated whole, supports internally oriented cognition involving information that is personally relevant, but not limited specifically to the self. They also suggest that the DN may be somewhat more extensive than currently thought.

SUBMITTER: Grigg O

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3104039 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The default network and processing of personally relevant information: converging evidence from task-related modulations and functional connectivity.

Grigg Omer O Grady Cheryl L CL

Neuropsychologia 20100915 13

Despite a growing interest in the default network (DN), its composition and function are not fully known. Here we examined whether the DN, as a whole, is specifically active during a task involving judgments about the self, or whether this engagement extends to judgments about a close other. We also aimed to provide converging evidence of DN involvement from across-task functional connectivity, and resting-state functional connectivity analyses, to provide a more comprehensive delineation of thi ...[more]

PMID: 20837034

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Project description:Cognitive impairment affects about 50% of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, but the mechanisms underlying this remain unclear. The default mode network (DMN) has been linked with cognition, but in MS its role is still poorly understood. Moreover, within an extended DMN network including the cerebellum (CBL-DMN), the contribution of cortico-cerebellar connectivity to MS cognitive performance remains unexplored. The present study investigated associations of DMN and CBL-DMN structural connectivity with cognitive processing speed in MS, in both cognitively impaired (CIMS) and cognitively preserved (CPMS) MS patients. 68 MS patients and 22 healthy controls (HCs) completed a symbol digit modalities test (SDMT) and had 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that included a diffusion weighted imaging protocol. DMN and CBL-DMN tracts were reconstructed with probabilistic tractography. These networks (DMN and CBL-DMN) and the cortico-cerebellar tracts alone were modeled using a graph theoretical approach with fractional anisotropy (FA) as the weighting factor. Brain parenchymal fraction (BPF) was also calculated. In CIMS SDMT scores strongly correlated with the FA-weighted global efficiency (GE) of the network [GE(CBL-DMN): ? = 0.87, R 2 = 0.76, p < 0.001; GE(DMN): ? = 0.82, R 2 = 0.67, p < 0.001; GE(CBL): ? = 0.80, R 2 = 0.64, p < 0.001]. In CPMS the correlation between these measures was significantly lower [GE(CBL-DMN): ? = 0.51, R 2 = 0.26, p < 0.001; GE(DMN): ? = 0.48, R 2 = 0.23, p = 0.001; GE(CBL): ? = 0.52, R 2 = 0.27, p < 0.001] and SDMT scores correlated most with BPF (? = 0.57, R 2 = 0.33, p < 0.001). In a multivariable regression model where SDMT was the independent variable, FA-weighted GE was the only significant explanatory variable in CIMS, while in CPMS BPF and expanded disability status scale were significant. No significant correlation was found in HC between SDMT scores, MRI or network measures. DMN structural GE is related to cognitive performance in MS, and results of CBL-DMN suggest that the cerebellum structural connectivity to the DMN plays an important role in information processing speed decline.

Dataset Information

The default network and processing of personally relevant information: converging evidence from task-related modulations and functional connectivity.

Publications

The default network and processing of personally relevant information: converging evidence from task-related modulations and functional connectivity.

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