Voxels in the default mode network (DMN) show the highest agreement between structural and functional connectivity in the human brain. Using fMRI and DTI data, structural connectivity was measured with probabilistic and global fiber-tracking, while functional connectivity used full and partial correlations of voxel timecourses. Bilateral precuneal and inferior parietal regions were identified by all methods; global tracking additionally revealed medial prefrontal cortices and early visual areas. Full and partial correlations yielded no significant differences. The DMN appears to use the most direct structural connections, suggesting the brain's anatomy shapes its functional repertoire.
Minimal phenomenal selfhood (MPS) is the basic, pre-reflective experience of being a self, emerging from self-modeling mechanisms rooted in bodily processes. The free energy principle (FEP) describes how self-organizing systems optimize hierarchical generative models of sensory causes by minimizing free energy. Predictive coding and active inference within the FEP highlight the role of embodiment for predictive self-modeling. This review maps MPS onto a hierarchical generative model under the FEP, explaining key constituents like multisensory integration, interoception, agency, perspective, and mineness. The authors conclude that this framework may underlie higher-level cognitive self-referral and understanding other minds.