Yuankai He

The Anatomical and Functional Evolution of the Default Mode Network

COMPARATIVE NEUROSCIENCE

EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

ABSTRACT

Keywords: default mode network, evolution, non-human primates, funcational magnetic resonance imaging, clinical translation


INTRODUCTION

IDENTIFYING ANIMAL HOMOLOGUES OF THE DMN

CONCLUSION

NOTES

[1] Seed regions are regions whose resting state time series of blood-O2-level-dependent signals are correlated with all other ROIs or all voxels of the brain.


INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMENTARY

PSYCHOLOGY

Is the default mode network the locus of imagination and morality, and what adaptive functions do these psychological faculties serve that distinguish humans from other primates?
Eve Selwood-Metcalfe
Corpus Christ College, University of Cambridge

The default mode network (DMN) is an important neural network that has been implicated in a range of activities within human, nonhuman primate, cat, and rodent brains. It has consequently been linked to various neuropsychological disorders in humans, such as autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and dementia. However, it has more recently been suggested that the DMN may be involved in more abstract psychological functions such as imagination, empathy and morality, qualities that have previously been difficult to investigate empirically and which seem to be largely unique to humans. This commentary will therefore aim to examine the potential role of the DMN in imagination and morality, considering their adaptive functions within humans in allowing both internal reflection and aiding social functions which have been crucial in characterising Homo sapiens.


ARTICLE REFERENCES


COMMENTARY REFERENCES