Interactions between the Salience Network (SN) and the Default Mode Network (DMN) are important for cognitive control. In healthy subjects, functional connectivity between a key SN node (right anterior insula) and the DMN transiently increased during motor response inhibition and switching. This change was absent in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with impaired cognitive control. The amount of SN tract damage negatively correlated with connectivity between the networks, a finding replicated in a second TBI group. Results indicate that SN damage impairs dynamic network coupling and support a model where the SN signals the DMN to reduce activity during externally focused attention.
People with treatment-resistant depression were slower than controls at recognizing facial emotions. After two doses of psilocybin with psychological support, their speed of emotion recognition improved to a level no different from controls, and this improvement was linked to a reduction in anhedonia. The findings suggest psilocybin may help correct emotional processing biases in depression, but placebo-controlled trials are needed to confirm.