Carissa L. Philippi , Joel Bruss , Carrie Brandauer , Nicholas T. Trapp , Daniel Tranel , Aaron D. Boes
{"title":"Reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms associated with damage to the medial prefrontal cortex and default mode network","authors":"Carissa L. Philippi , Joel Bruss , Carrie Brandauer , Nicholas T. Trapp , Daniel Tranel , Aaron D. Boes","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109168","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Depressive disorders have been consistently associated with elevated levels of mind-wandering and self-focused negative rumination. Separate tracks of research have implicated brain structures within the default mode network (DMN) in both mind-wandering and depression. In this study, we hypothesized that diminished mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms would co-occur in individuals with damage to the DMN. To test this hypothesis, we used a k-means clustering algorithm to identify a target group of patients with reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms relative to brain-damaged comparison subjects (<em>n</em> = 37 of 68; <em>ps</em> < .001). The anatomical localization of lesions for this target group was predominantly within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Structural and functional lesion network mapping results revealed that lesions of the target group had significantly greater connectivity with DMN and limbic regions. Taken together, these results suggest that brain injury affecting the mPFC and DMN is associated with both reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms. Further investigation of neuroanatomical substrates that mediate a causal relationship between mind-wandering and mood may facilitate the identification of new therapeutic targets for neuromodulation in patients with disorders characterized by maladaptive mind-wandering, such as rumination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 109168"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Neuropsychologia","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393225001034","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Depressive disorders have been consistently associated with elevated levels of mind-wandering and self-focused negative rumination. Separate tracks of research have implicated brain structures within the default mode network (DMN) in both mind-wandering and depression. In this study, we hypothesized that diminished mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms would co-occur in individuals with damage to the DMN. To test this hypothesis, we used a k-means clustering algorithm to identify a target group of patients with reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms relative to brain-damaged comparison subjects (n = 37 of 68; ps < .001). The anatomical localization of lesions for this target group was predominantly within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Structural and functional lesion network mapping results revealed that lesions of the target group had significantly greater connectivity with DMN and limbic regions. Taken together, these results suggest that brain injury affecting the mPFC and DMN is associated with both reduced mind-wandering and fewer depressive symptoms. Further investigation of neuroanatomical substrates that mediate a causal relationship between mind-wandering and mood may facilitate the identification of new therapeutic targets for neuromodulation in patients with disorders characterized by maladaptive mind-wandering, such as rumination.
期刊介绍:
Neuropsychologia is an international interdisciplinary journal devoted to experimental and theoretical contributions that advance understanding of human cognition and behavior from a neuroscience perspective. The journal will consider for publication studies that link brain function with cognitive processes, including attention and awareness, action and motor control, executive functions and cognitive control, memory, language, and emotion and social cognition.