Architecture of the Human Default Mode Network: Cytoarchitecture, Wiring and Signal Flow

Abstract

The default mode network (DMN) is implicated in many aspects of complex thought and behavior. Here, we leverage post-mortem histology and in vivo neuroimaging to characterise the anatomy of the DMN to better understand its role in information processing and cortical communication. Our results show that the DMN is cytoarchitecturally heterogenous, containing cytoarchitectural types that are variably specialised for unimodal, heteromodal, and memory-related processing. Studying diffusion-based structural connectivity in combination with cytoarchitecture, we found the DMN contains regions receptive to input from sensory cortex and a core that is relatively insulated from environmental input. Finally, analysis of signal flow with effective connectivity models showed that the DMN is unique amongst cortical networks in balancing its output across the levels of sensory hierarchies. Together, our study establishes an anatomical foundation from which mechanistic accounts of the broad role the DMN plays in human brain function and cognition can be developed.