Functional dissociation of ventral frontal and dorsomedial default mode network components during resting state and emotional autobiographical recall

Abstract

Humans spend a substantial share of their lives mind-wandering. This spontaneous thinking activity usually comprises autobiographical recall, emotional, and self-referential components. While neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that a specific brain “default mode network” (DMN) is consistently engaged by the “resting state” of the mind, the relative contribution of key cognitive components to DMN activity is still poorly understood. Here we used fMRI to investigate whether activity in neural components of the DMN can be differentially explained by active recall of relevant emotional autobiographical memories as compared with the resting state. Our study design combined emotional autobiographical memory, neutral memory and resting state conditions, separated by a serial subtraction control task. Shared patterns of activation in the DMN were observed in both emotional autobiographical and resting conditions, when compared with serial subtraction. Directly contrasting autobiographical and resting conditions demonstrated a striking dissociation within the DMN in that emotional autobiographical retrieval led to stronger activation of the dorsomedial core regions (medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex), whereas the resting state condition engaged a ventral frontal network (ventral striatum, subgenual and ventral anterior cingulate cortices) in addition to the IPL. Our results reveal an as yet unreported dissociation within the DMN. Whereas the dorsomedial component can be explained by emotional autobiographical memory, the ventral frontal one is predominantly associated with the resting state proper, possibly underlying fundamental motivational mechanisms engaged during spontaneous unconstrained ideation. Hum Brain Mapp 35:3302–3313, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Computing the Social Brain Connectome Across Systems and States

“…Additionally, the vmPFC, typically involved in stimulusvalue association and decision-making (Kringelbach and Rolls 2004;Gläscher et al 2012), showed a task-dependent coactivation with the NAC of the reward circuitry that was not observed in the idling social brain. It concurs with the vmPFC's proposed role in approach-avoidance choices towards individuals and objects in the here and now that predict social competences and social network properties (Lebreton et al 2009;Powell et al 2010), whereas the medial FP and the dmPFC are more intimately related to environment-detached, internally-generated mentation (Laird et al 2009b;Nicolle et al 2012;Bzdok et al 2013;Bado et al 2014). Finally, as mentioned above, characteristic lateralization patterns, most prominently observed to the left IFG, were mostly a property of the task-engaged rather than mind-wandering social brain.…”

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 and episodic memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease: A review

“…Another component of subjective reliving worth considering is emotion. Although emotion is a key factor in autobiographical reconstruction (Conway, 2005), and may lead to the assembly of a specialized DMN sub-network during autobiographical memory recall (Bado et al, 2014), little is known about its role in AD-related autobiographical decline.…”

Depression in chronic ketamine users: Sex differences and neural bases

“…Previous studies have shown increased sgACC connectivity with the dmPFC in patients with major depressive disorder (Davey et al, 2012; Hamilton et al, 2011; Sheline et al, 2010). Increased sgACC connectivity with the dmPFC may be related to depression symptoms such as self-reproach and guilty rumination (Davey et al, 2012), in relation to the role of the dmPFC in autobiographical recall and self-referential analyses (Bado et al, 2014). Importantly, guilty rumination figured more prominently in women than in men with depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2012; Shors et al, 2017).…”