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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 5, 2026

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Is a Responsive Default Mode Network Required for Successful Working Memory Task Performance?

Marta Čeko1, John L Gracely1, Mary-Ann Fitzcharles2

  • 1National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|August 21, 2015
PubMed
Summary

A responsive default-mode network (DMN) may not be essential for successful cognitive performance. Even with reduced DMN responsiveness, individuals performed working memory tasks comparably to healthy controls, suggesting external-task-positive networks may suffice.

Keywords:
FMRIchronic paindefault modeexternal-task-positivetask performanceworking memory

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Brain Imaging

Background:

  • Cognitive tasks engage externally directed attention networks and suppress the default-mode network (DMN).
  • The dynamic responsiveness of these networks to increasing task difficulty is crucial for cognitive performance.
  • Previous research linked external-task-positive network responsiveness to success, but the DMN's role remained unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if a responsive DMN is necessary for successful cognitive performance.
  • To compare cognitive task performance and brain activity between healthy subjects and chronic pain patients with reduced DMN engagement.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor brain activity during a multilevel working-memory (N-back) task.
  • Healthy controls (n=23) and chronic pain patients (n=28) with known decreased DMN engagement performed the task.
  • fMRI responses in external-task-positive and DMN regions were analyzed for modulation by task difficulty.

Main Results:

  • Both groups showed similar performance decrements (accuracy, reaction time) with increasing task difficulty.
  • Chronic pain patients exhibited significantly reduced deactivation (responsiveness) in DMN regions compared to controls.
  • No compensatory neural recruitment was observed in patients, and DMN responsiveness did not correlate with task accuracy.

Conclusions:

  • A responsive default-mode network (DMN) may not be required for successful working memory performance.
  • Responsiveness in external-task-positive networks, like the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, appears sufficient for task success.
  • These findings challenge the necessity of DMN suppression for effective cognitive functioning.