The Science

Meet your brain's screensaver: the default mode network

When you're not doing anything in particular, one brain network lights up and starts telling stories about you. Meditation changes how it behaves.

The Solvance Team3 min read

The short version

  • The default mode network (DMN) is most active when you're not focused on a task: daydreaming, replaying, planning, thinking about yourself.
  • It's essential for memory, imagination and understanding others. The problem is getting stuck in it.
  • Experienced meditators showed less DMN activity during meditation, and stronger links to brain regions that monitor it.
  • Every time you notice a thought and come back, you're practicing stepping out of the default mode.

For decades, brain scientists treated the moments between tasks as boring "rest." Then they noticed something strange: when people stopped doing experiments and just lay in the scanner, certain regions didn't quiet down. They got busier.

In 2001, neuroscientist Marcus Raichle and colleagues gave this a name: the brain's default mode. The network behind it, running through the midline of the brain from front to back, is now one of the most studied systems in neuroscience.

What the default mode network does

The DMN is your brain's storyteller. It's active when you remember yesterday, imagine tomorrow, wonder what a friend meant by that text, or think about who you are. It helps you build a sense of self across time, and to imagine other minds.

That's hugely valuable. But it has a habit: left to run on its own, it drifts toward rumination: replaying mistakes, rehearsing worries, polishing arguments you'll never have. Heavy, repetitive self-focused thinking is linked with low mood and anxiety.

Think of the DMN as a screensaver that plays your greatest hits, and your worst ones, whenever you stop touching the keyboard.

What happens in meditators' brains

In 2011, Judson Brewer and colleagues at Yale compared experienced meditators with beginners across several kinds of meditation. The experienced practitioners showed less activity in core DMN regions while meditating. They also showed stronger connections between the DMN and regions involved in monitoring and control, even at rest, as though the "noticing" system was keeping a gentle eye on the storyteller.

What this means for your sit

  • Mind-wandering is the DMN doing its job. You're not failing when it happens.
  • Noticing is the switch. The moment you catch a story and return to the breath, you're shifting out of the default mode.
  • Labels help. Silently noting "planning," "remembering" or "worrying" helps you see the story as a story.
  • Repetition matters. Short, frequent sits give you more reps of that switch than one long sit a week.
Try it · 5 min

Catching the storyteller

  1. Sit and rest your attention on the breath.
  2. When you find yourself in a thought, give it a one-word label: planning, remembering, judging, imagining.
  3. Notice who the story was about. (It's usually you.)
  4. Return to the breath with a little curiosity, and wait for the next story.
  5. In your reflection, note which label came up most. That's your default mode's favorite channel.
Put it into practice

Try five minutes of labeling tonight, and tag the channel your storyteller played most.

Start a sit

Sources & further reading

  1. Raichle, M. E. et al. (2001). A default mode of brain function. PNAS, 98(2), 676–682.
  2. Brewer, J. A. et al. (2011). Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. PNAS, 108(50), 20254–20259.
  3. Killingsworth, M. A. & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932.

This article is for education and general wellbeing, not medical advice. If you're dealing with a health condition, talk with a qualified professional before changing your care. Techniques and trademarks named here belong to their creators; Solvance isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or organizations mentioned.

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