Topic: default mode network

Vinod Menon examines the brain's default mode network as a foundation for autobiographical memory, self-related processing, and consciousness, and considers how these functions compare with current artificial intelligence systems. The virtual session is part of Stanford's Contemplation by Design Summit.

Recent research demonstrated that analyses of neuroimaging data can verify the removal of information from working memory (WM) when it is replaced, suppressed, and cleared completely in the mind compared to when that information is maintained In addition, univariate activation across the brain while someone performed these operations revealed activation patterns that resembled those of functionally communicating brain networks. Currently, less is known about the similarities and differences of the activation patterns across these functionally related brain regions for each of the distinct WM o

Recent advancements in anatomical and functional imaging emphasize the presence of whole-brain networks organized according to functional and connectivity gradients, but how such structure shapes activity propagation and memory processes still lacks asatisfactory model. We analyse the fine-grained spatiotemporal dynamics of spontaneous activity in the entire dorsal cortex. through simultaneous recordings of wide-field voltage sensitive dye transients (VS), cortical ECoG, and hippocampal LFP in anesthetized mice. Both VS and ECoG show cortical avalanches. When measuring avalanches from the VS

People frequently interpret the same information differently, based on their prior beliefs and views. This may occur in everyday settings, as when two friends are watching the same movie, but also in more consequential circumstances, such as when people interpret the same news differently based on their political views. The role of subjective knowledge in altering how the brain processes narratives has been explored mainly in controlled settings. I will present two projects that examines neural mechanisms underlying narrative interpretation “in the wild” -- how responses differ between two gro

Synchronization of dispersed brain areas comprising the Default Mode Network (DMN) has been implicated in a range of cognitive processes (e.g., episodic memory retrieval, dream recall, creativity) [1,2]. Here, we probe the role of the DMN in divergent thinking through intracranial recordings in 8 patients with electrodes implanted for epilepsy monitoring. Subjects performed a creativity-requiring alternate uses task (AUT) and two control tasks (Fig. 1a)—a basic arithmetic task (BAT) and an object characterization task (OCT). The originality of subjects’ AUT responses was automatically scored u