ArticleHuman brain mapping2020
Dark control: The default mode network as a reinforcement learning agent.
Article in Human brain mapping, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The habenula in mood disorders: A systematic review of human studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Shared and distinct neural activity during anticipation and outcome of win and loss: A meta-analysis of the monetary incentive delay task.NeuroImage · 2022Pooled it
- Brain activations associated with anticipation and delivery of monetary reward: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- The role of reward-related brain activity in response to treatment and later depression severity: data from a randomized controlled trial in early adolescents with anxiety disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Electrophysiological dissociation of human posterior cingulate cortex contributions to value- and memory-based decision-making.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Dopamine Compensates for Amyloid-Induced Default Mode Network Dysfunction to Support Learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Shared neurogenetic architecture links adolescent neurodevelopmental deviations to adult psychopathological procrastination.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Narrative "twist" shifts within-individual neural representations of dissociable story features.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific Associations of Irritability With Subcortical Brain Volumes.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- The network architecture of general intelligence in the human connectome.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Initial evidence of altered functional network connectivity in children with developmental language disorder.Brain and language · 2025Article
- Preliminary Findings on Low-Dose 1cp-LSD for Canine Anxiety: Exploring the Role of Owner Neuroticism and Psychopathology.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Brain network dynamics predict moments of surprise across contexts.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Understanding the Link Between Functional Profiles and Intelligence Through Dimensionality Reduction and Graph Analysis.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Sex-specific differences in brain activity dynamics of youth with a family history of substance use disorder.Nature. Mental health · 2025Article
- Correlations of pilot trainees' brainwave dynamics with subjective performance evaluations: insights from EEG microstate analysis.Frontiers in neuroergonomics · 2025Article
- On the varieties of conscious experiences: Altered Beliefs Under Psychedelics (ALBUS).Neuroscience of consciousness · 2025Article
- Creativity and its link to epilepsy.Epilepsia open · 2024Review
- An Active-Inference Approach to Second-Person Neuroscience.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2024Review
- Temporal complexity of the BOLD-signal in preterm versus term infants.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The default mode network (DMN) is believed to subserve the baseline mental activity in humans. Its higher energy consumption compared to other brain networks and its intimate coupling with conscious awareness are both pointing to an unknown overarching function. Many research streams speak in favor of an evolutionarily adaptive role in envisioning experience to anticipate the future. In the present work, we propose a process model that tries to explain how the DMN may implement continuous evaluation and prediction of the environment to guide behavior. The main purpose of DMN activity, we argue, may be described by Markov decision processes that optimize action policies via value estimates through vicarious trial and error. Our formal perspective on DMN function naturally accommodates as special cases previous interpretations based on (a) predictive coding, (b) semantic associations, and (c) a sentinel role. Moreover, this process model for the neural optimization of complex behavior in the DMN offers parsimonious explanations for recent experimental findings in animals and humans.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.