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Abstract
Tasks that demand externalized attention reliably suppress default network activity
while activating the dorsal attention network. These networks have an intrinsic competitive
relationship; activation of one suppresses activity of the other. Consequently, many
assume that default network activity is suppressed during goal-directed cognition.
We challenge this assumption in an fMRI study of planning. Recent studies link default
network activity with internally focused cognition, such as imagining personal future
events, suggesting a role in autobiographical planning. However, it is unclear how
goal-directed cognition with an internal focus is mediated by these opposing networks.
A third anatomically interposed 'frontoparietal control network' might mediate planning
across domains, flexibly coupling with either the default or dorsal attention network
in support of internally versus externally focused goal-directed cognition, respectively.
We tested this hypothesis by analyzing brain activity during autobiographical versus
visuospatial planning. Autobiographical planning engaged the default network, whereas
visuospatial planning engaged the dorsal attention network, consistent with the anti-correlated
domains of internalized and externalized cognition. Critically, both planning tasks
engaged the frontoparietal control network. Task-related activation of these three
networks was anatomically consistent with independently defined resting-state functional
connectivity MRI maps. Task-related functional connectivity analyses demonstrate that
the default network can be involved in goal-directed cognition when its activity is
coupled with the frontoparietal control network. Additionally, the frontoparietal
control network may flexibly couple with the default and dorsal attention networks
according to task domain, serving as a cortical mediator linking the two networks
in support of goal-directed cognitive processes.
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.