The default network and social cognition: new insights and future directions

Abstract

The default network is known to engage more strongly ‘by default’ during rest compared to many cognitive tasks. The network is also reliably associated with social cognition, suggesting some forms of social cognition may occur ‘by default’ during rest. The goal of this opinion piece is to review accumulating evidence suggesting the default network performs two social cognitive processes during rest: social guiding and social consolidation. Social guiding refers to the observation that the immediate brain state participants enter in the default network as soon as they rest shapes their immediately following social cognition and behavior. Social consolidation refers to the observation that after participants are exposed to new social information, the default network commits the social information to memory during rest. After reviewing findings in support of social guiding and social consolidation, we offer directions for new research on these topics.