Abstract:

Rapid development of cognitive neuroscience makes scientists have a deep understanding about human brain function. In recent years, the deactivation phenomenon in some brain areas was commonly observed when participants were required to execute external demanding tasks, and hence the concept of “Default Mode Network (DMN)” was put forward, and has attracted more and more attention from cognitive neuroscientists. Current review mainly focused on the history of DMN research, the relevant concepts and theories, ontogenetic and phylogenetic development, the diseases associated with and its clinical application. It suggests that future studies comprehensively investigate DMN from development trajectory, individual and species differences, the relationships with other brain networks (e.g., attention network, visual network, executive control network), and its associations with diseases.

Key words: default mode network, deactivation, functional connectivity, clinical application