Is a Responsive Default Mode Network Required for Successful Working Memory Task Performance?
Marta ČekoJohn L GracelyMary-Ann FitzcharlesDavid A SeminowiczPetra SchweinhardtM Catherine BushnellPublished in: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (2015)
We studied the relationship between responsiveness of the brain to increasing task demand and successful cognitive performance, using chronic pain patients as a probe. fMRI working memory studies show that two main cognitive networks ["external-task positive" and "default-mode network" (DMN)] are responsive to increasing task difficulty. The responsiveness of both of these brain networks is suggested to be required for successful task performance. The responsiveness of external-task-positive regions has been linked directly to successful cognitive task performance, as we also show here. However, pain patients show decreased engagement and responsiveness of the DMN but can perform a working memory task as well as healthy subjects, without demonstrable compensatory neural recruitment. Therefore, a responsive DMN might not be needed for successful cognitive performance.
Keyphrases
- working memory
- chronic pain
- resting state
- end stage renal disease
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- functional connectivity
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- ejection fraction
- chronic kidney disease
- newly diagnosed
- peritoneal dialysis
- prognostic factors
- cancer therapy
- white matter
- pain management
- social media
- drug delivery
- network analysis
- solid state