Narrative coherence shapes functional connectivity in default mode and frontoparietal networks.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Narratives are fundamental to human cognition.
• Neural underpinnings of coherent story comprehension are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural basis of narrative coherence.
• To identify brain regions and networks involved in processing coherent vs. incoherent narratives.

Main Methods:

• Used a naturalistic paradigm with a foreign-language film and manipulated English subtitles (intact vs. scrambled).
• Employed whole-brain functional connectivity multivariate pattern analysis (fc-MVPA).
• Conducted seed-based correlation analyses to examine network coupling.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in functional connectivity were found in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), lateral prefrontal cortex, and right angular gyrus.
• Coherent narratives showed stronger vmPFC and PCC coupling with temporal and frontoparietal regions.
• Incoherent narratives increased connectivity between default mode and attention networks, indicating higher cognitive load.
• A functional dissociation within the default mode network (DMN) was observed, with differential coupling during coherent and incoherent narrative processing.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic reconfiguration across large-scale brain networks supports real-world narrative comprehension.
• Specific network interactions, particularly within the DMN, differentiate the processing of coherent and incoherent stories.
• Findings provide insights into the neural architecture of semantic and contextual integration during narrative understanding.