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What our brain does when the mind is at rest

Maps of the default brain activity in human subjects (red) were related to the structural properties visible in the high resolution model BigBrain, available on EBRAINS (lower row). Image adapted from Paquola et al. 2025

The brain’s default mode network is a group of regions that become active when we are not engaged with our surroundings – for instance, when daydreaming. Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany have now investigated the structure and function of this network by analysing brain tissue and applying advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

 

Using the BigBrain, which is available on the EBRAINS research infrastructure, the study revealed microstructural differences that influence how the default mode network communicates with other regions of the brain. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience

 

Read the full press release here: https://www.ebrains.eu/news-and-events/what-our-brain-does-when-the-mind-is-at-rest 

Press Contact

Dr. Lisa Vincenz-Donnelly
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1)
Tel.: +49 2461 61-9335
E-Mail: l.vincenz-donnelly@fz-juelich.de

Original publication

Casey Paquola, Margaret Garber, Stefan Frässle, Jessica Royer, Yigu Zhou, Shahin Tavakol, Raul Rodriguez-Cruces, Donna Gift Cabalo, Sofie Valk, Simon B. Eickhoff, Daniel S. Margulies, Alan Evans, Katrin Amunts, Elizabeth Jefferies, Jonathan Smallwood & Boris C. Bernhardt: The architecture of the human default mode network explored through cytoarchitecture, wiring and signal flow. Nat Neurosci 28, 654–664 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01868-0