Cooperation between the default mode network and the frontal–parietal network in the production of an internal train of thought
Brain Research April 15, 2011 Jonathan Smallwood, Kevin Brown, Ben Baird et al. 394 citations
The ability to generate and sustain an internal train of thought independent of external reality frees an agent from acting only on immediate environmental events. This paper proposes that such thought arises from cooperation between autobiographical information from the default mode network and a frontal-parietal control network that sustains and buffers internal trains of thought against disruption. This hypothesis explains two features: first, access to the top-down control system is a prerequisite of conscious experience, explaining why its activation and default mode activity are often observed together during internally guided thought.