# The Brain's Default Mode Network - Author: **Annual Reviews** - Document Tags: [[default mode network]] - [URL link](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014030?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed)  ## Highlights - The Brain's Default Mode Network ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh50gk06v366y7hhjrm94phx)) --- - Research on the brain's default mode network and the brain's intrinsic activity more generally has moved in many directions producing a literature that has become quite extensive. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh4zrg0b45b46qqavwv1asb1)) --- - Rather than attempting a detailed analysis of this entire body of work, I focus on topics within it that have been of particular interest to me and that provide a sense of the future of this work. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh4zr2vvvmk70ehg5weney6a)) --- - “What is the function of the default mode network?” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh4zwf3bapcf4gazvz7r03pz)) --- - ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh504grfhfjr1t1qznww2y3g)) --- - cytoarchitectonics ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh503p775h6bd7rqtsnrph9h)) --- - Imaging studies in normal individuals have shown that the emotional state of the subject has a direct effect on the activity level in the VMPC component of the default mode network. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh504sghfk9bebtf0mqxrtr4)) --- - In studies of performance anxiety induced by task difficulty, the degree to which VMPC decreased its activity in concert with other elements of the default mode network was directly proportional to the subject's anxiety level while performing the task. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh5057vnvy7jh7vbs288m7g6)) (Tags: [[anxiety]]) --- - With high anxiety, the VMPC decreased little if at all. As anxiety decreased with practice on the task activity so too did activity in the VMPC ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh505t52sf9k8n8cph14vrvh)) --- - Activity decreases in the VMPC were inversely correlated with anxiety self-rating, such that the least anxious subjects exhibited the largest reductions, whereas the most anxious subjects showed no significant reduction or a slight increase. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh507bbdnmk6q13yh0wt16qj)) --- - he VMPC component of the default mode network reflects a dynamic balance between focused attention and a subject's emotional state ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh508117z1xy90feef7875pt)) --- - Elements of the VMPC actually increase their activity in association with disruptions in bodily homeostasis ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh50bcrv38kdqp26dkv60v0z)) --- - , increase in heart rate and plasma levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine, ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh50b6w88g7mj2534ym6b4jt)) --- - attention-demanding tasks attenuate emotional processing. - Note: attenuate = "reduce the force, effect, or value of" aka. diminished or impaired. So increase in attention demand reduces emotional processing. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hh50cer9jmbe8z3b3hs8gb03)) ---