Abstract
Semantic cognition can be both perceptually-coupled, for example, during reading, and decoupled, such as in daydreams. Mind-wandering, characterised by autobiographical memory retrieval, often interferes with externally-focussed tasks. This study investigated the neural basis of these states, when they occur in isolation and in competition, using fMRI. Participants were asked to read sentences, presented word-by-word, or to recall personal memories, as a proxy for mind-wandering. Task conflict was created by presenting sentences during memory recall, or memory cues before sentences. We found that different subsystems of the default mode network (DMN) do not fully dissociate across internally- and externally-oriented states, and they do not fully separate in terms of the effects of task focus; this depends on the task. The lateral temporal DMN subsystem, associated with semantic cognition, was activated across both tasks, and by sentence inputs even when they were task-irrelevant. In the core DMN subsystem, greater task focus corresponded to a selective pattern of activation during memory recall and deactivation during reading. Both DMN subsystems formed different patterns of functional coupling depending on the task. In this way, DMN supports both access to meaning from perceptual inputs and focussed internal cognitive states in the face of distracting external information.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
